Finland fines Estonian operator MagicPoro €1.2m over illegal marketing

Finland's National Police Board (NPB) has issued a prohibition order against Estonian-licensed operator MagicPoro, banning it from marketing gambling services to Finnish consumers for 12 months. The regulator has also imposed a conditional fine of €1.2m, which becomes payable if the company breaches the order.

The decision, dated 31 August 2026, is the first prohibition order issued by the NPB since Finland's new gambling law passed parliament last year. Documents obtained by Next.io through a freedom of information request show the police concluded MagicPoro had targeted Finnish consumers in breach of the country's Lottery Act.

What MagicPoro is accused of

MagicPoro operates the gambling brands Pelikaani, Pelikioski and Bigwin. The NPB opened an investigation into the three sites in autumn 2025, asking the company on 4 November to clarify whether it was offering services to Finnish customers unlawfully.

The police said MagicPoro missed a December deadline to respond. The company later told officers, in April, that it had only received the requests the previous month. In its reply, MagicPoro said neither its websites nor their content were aimed at any specific country, and that affiliate partners had been told to drop Finnish-language material.

For more international affiliate sites, the requirement has been to edit the content to be completely country neutral.MagicPoro, in correspondence with Finland's National Police Board

Marketing kept running, police say

The NPB said that by August it had found substantial marketing for the brands still live, despite MagicPoro's claims. Investigators pointed to two Pelikioski campaigns on the clipping platform Viralify, one of which involved 27 so-called clippers and around 96,500 views. By then, police had also identified a fourth site, Pottila, as another MagicPoro-run brand.

Affiliate sources told Next.io that MagicPoro had asked partners to pull marketing material after the NPB made contact, but the regulator maintained that significant content remained online well into the investigation.

What the order means in practice

The prohibition order takes effect 30 days after MagicPoro was notified of the decision and runs for 12 months, with the NPB able to extend it by a further year if needed. It bars the company from producing new marketing and requires removal of existing material.

Once the ban takes effect, MagicPoro will also be added to Finland's payment blocking list. That measure stops Finnish banks and payment providers from processing transactions linked to the operator, making it harder for local players to fund accounts or withdraw winnings.

Why it matters for Finland's new market

Finland overhauled its gambling laws last year, moving from a state monopoly system towards a licensed market open to private operators. The NPB has told MagicPoro directly that a prohibition order could count against it if it later applies for a Finnish licence, a warning that will be closely watched by other unlicensed operators still serving the market.

The case is an early test of how Finland's regulator intends to enforce the new framework. For more on how regulators across Europe and beyond are tightening rules, see Casino Courant's roundup of the 10 biggest regulatory moves in gambling this month.

MagicPoro did not comment when contacted by Next.io, and it is not known whether the company has appealed the decision.