Curacao’s ‘Casino Secrets’ Exposed in Regulatory Leak as Firms Push Back

Curaçao’s ‘Casino Secrets’ Go Public

The Casino Secrets archive, which went live today, invites visitors to search more than 40,000 documents covering casinos licensed by the Curaçao Gaming Authority, and states that inclusion “does not imply illegal or improper conduct.” Searches by Bitcoin.com News returned records for Dama N.V. and Latiform B.V., two Curaçao companies named in the reporting.

The documents come from a nine-month breach of the regulator’s licensing portal by Berlin-based security researcher and journalist Lilith Wittmann, who first logged in under an assumed identity in December 2025. Follow the Money, which published the main investigation on Tuesday with Germany’s NDR, Norway’s NRK, Sweden’s SVT and Austria’s Jetzt, said the files identify roughly 800 owners of nearly 650 licensed companies. The regulator confirmed unauthorized access on Sept. 17, saying it had been contained and its source identified, with a forensic investigation continuing.

As of this writing, the most detailed response to the leak comes from Softswiss, the technology group the reporting places at the center of a network of Curaçao-licensed operators. In a lawyer’s letter dated Sept. 9, quoted in a source document published by NDR’s STRG_F, the company said it “operates no online casinos itself” and provides no gambling services to end users.

The letter continues by arguing that supplying software or technical infrastructure to independently operating companies establishes neither ownership nor control over their business any more than using standard software such as Microsoft Office or Apple products gives a provider control over what users do.

On Platincasino, the German-facing brand reportedly at the center of a Frankfurt prosecution, Softswiss said it “may have provided individual software components or access to certain game providers,” but was not involved in operations. A lawyer for founder Ivan Montik confirmed he held 100% of Dama N.V. and Topchik N.V. before selling them, while saying he was not involved in running them. The same letter further argued that Germany’s licensing requirement for virtual slot machines is unlawful, so an operator licensed abroad that accepts German players is not acting illegally, and said the companies identified have paid several hundred million euros in German gambling tax under protest.

Curaçao Regulator Alleges Misleading Reporting

When asked about the roughly 1,000 domains reporters attributed to a Softswiss network, the Curaçao Gaming Authority told STRG_F it keeps no such classification and could not confirm a grouping “which has been fabricated by you,” adding that use of a shared technology platform “is commonplace across the online gambling industry and does not convert separate licenced entities into a single regulatory network.”

The regulator further said it does not help licensees circumvent site blocking, that registering extra domains “is not permission to target any country in which an operator is not legally entitled to operate,” and that a Curaçao license “does not authorize an operator to conduct activities in Germany.” The CGA also told Follow the Money it has rejected about 28% of applications since 2023.

Mario Galea, whose Malta firm Random Consulting carries out due diligence for the authority, told Jetzt his team only gathers facts and that licensing decisions rest with the CGA alone. He rejected the suggestion that he facilitates illegal gambling.

Public records corroborate parts of the picture. The CGA’s license registry dated Sept. 21 lists Dama, Latiform, Hollycorn N.V., Just Entertainment B.V., Topchik, 1xBet’s Caecus N.V. and Blaze operator Prolific Trade N.V. with indefinite licenses, while Stake’s Medium Rare N.V. is marked “assessment in progress.” Its enforcement register lists 32 licenses revoked or not extended, including that of Qbet operator Novatech Solutions N.V. in May. A Curaçao license costs about $54,400 (47,450 euros, at current rates) a year, under rules the CGA tightened for crypto operators in June.

Wittmann said she published the database because the public interest outweighed the method of acquisition. The Malta Gaming Authority, whose systems she breached earlier this year, has an injunction against her before a Berlin court, where a ruling was postponed shortly before publication.