{"id":223735,"date":"2022-07-28T20:49:45","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T01:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=223735"},"modified":"2022-07-29T12:56:50","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T17:56:50","slug":"swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Kindred Group Sued for $1M by Swedish Fashion Tycoon for \u2018Feeding Addiction\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Swedish fashion retail tycoon is suing Unibet<\/a> parent the Kindred Group<\/a> for SEK10.2 million (US$1 million). That\u2019s the amount he claims he lost playing on Unibet while in the throes of gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

\"Per
Per Holknekt claims he was seduced into a \u201cviciously dependent position\u201d with gambling companies that had a responsibility to protect him. (Gustav Martensson\/Aftonbladet)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A lawsuit filed in the Stockholm District Court this week on behalf of Odd Molly founder Per Holknekt, 62, says the online betting company should have recognized signs of Holknekt\u2019s gambling problem and intervened. Instead, it encouraged him, according to the suit.<\/p>\n

“The gambling company has deliberately ignored the player’s gambling addiction and through constant incentives worsened his financial situation,” it claims.<\/p>\n

Under Swedish gambling law, licensed operators are required to counteract excessive gambling and help gamblers reduce their spending when there is reason to do.<\/p>\n

Threatened Expos\u00e9<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Holknekt announced he was going after gambling companies in an interview with Swedish financial newspaper Dagens Industri<\/em> in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was seduced into a viciously dependent position with the gambling companies,\u201d he said. \u201cIt got out of hand. Their cunning techniques drained my last penny on that trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to draw attention to the issue, I question the big banks that invest in these gaming companies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n

The same year, Holknekt published a press release claiming that through \u201cdeep data analysis\u201d he had discovered a \u201cwide range of control deficiencies and irregularities in how [Unibet] examines and exploits its customers\u2019 gambling addiction,\u201d which he threatened to expose.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In response, a spokesperson for Unibet told Swedish business publication Resum\u00e9<\/em> that the company complied with licensing regulations.<\/p>\n

“We do not shy away from discussions that are based on facts,\u201d the spokesperson said.\u00a0\u201cBut we do not respond to direct threats or blackmail.\u00a0It is a form of communication that we avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Busto to Big Brother <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Holknekt has never been shy about discussing his addictions. He initially found fame as a professional skateboarder in the 1980s, when he also launched a skater clothing brand and a magazine devoted to the sport.<\/p>\n

But by the late 1990s, he was a washed-up alcoholic who had lost everything, and supported himself by selling a street newspaper.<\/p>\n

\n

By 2000, now sober, he finished fifth in the first season of Sweden\u2019s Big Brother <\/em>reality TV show.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Shortly afterwards, he began working with fashion designer Karin Jimfelt-Ghatan, and the pair launched Odd Molly in 2002, a venture that made him wealthy.<\/p>\n

As such, he was one of Unibet\u2019s VIP customers, and plied with incentives to keep playing, according to the filing.<\/p>\n

Unibet has declined to comment on the lawsuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Swedish fashion retail tycoon is suing Unibet parent the Kindred Group for SEK10.2 million (US$1 million). That\u2019s the amount he claims he lost playing on Unibet while in the throes of gambling addiction. A lawsuit filed in the Stockholm District Court this week on behalf of Odd Molly founder Per Holknekt, 62, says the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":223736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,60],"tags":[82072,82074,82075,82076,82073],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSwedish Fashion Tycoon Sues Kindred Group for $1 Million<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Per Holknekt, founder of the Odd Molly fashion retail website, claims Unibet and Kindred Group ignored signs of his addition.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swedish Fashion Tycoon Sues Kindred Group for $1 Million\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Per Holknekt, founder of the Odd Molly fashion retail website, claims Unibet and Kindred Group ignored signs of his addition.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-29T01:49:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-29T17:56:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Per.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/\",\"name\":\"Swedish Fashion Tycoon Sues Kindred Group for $1 Million\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Per.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-29T01:49:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-29T17:56:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Per Holknekt, founder of the Odd Molly fashion retail website, claims Unibet and Kindred Group ignored signs of his addition.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-fashion-tycoon-sues-kindred-group-for-1-million\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Per.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Per.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Per Holknekt claims he was seduced into a \u201cviciously dependent position\u201d with gambling companies that had a responsibility to protect him. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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