High 5 Games has been accused of nearly 1,100 counts of professional gambling violations and had its supplier licence suspended by authorities in Connecticut.

Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection Gaming Division (DCP) issued a summary suspension of High 5 Games’ online gaming service provider licence late last week, after an investigation determined that the company had also been illegally operating an unlicensed online casino, High5Casino.

High5Casino was marketed as a legal “licensed” casino and accepted wagers from Connecticut bettors, including individuals signed up for the statewide Voluntary Self-Exclusion List.

The DCP Gaming Division investigation revealed that High 5 Games had operated High5Casino from its launch in approximately 2012 until October 2022, when it was transferred to High 5 Entertainment, but began offering casino through its Sweepstakes in March 2023.

Sine its Sweepstakes launch, data showed that that 1,065 Connecticut customers made deposits of more than $3.1 million on the High5Casino platform.

Of those, 911 customers lost a total of $937,938, and 108 were individuals who had signed up for the Voluntary Self-Exclusion List. Customers on the Voluntary Self-Exclusion List lost nearly $300,000 on the platform.

“Thank you to our Gaming Division team for their hard work to hold this licensee accountable,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli. “It is a privilege to hold this license, and we expect our credential holders to take that responsibility seriously. High5Games took advantage of their credential to mislead consumers into believing they were participating in gaming on a legal platform when, in fact, they were breaking the law.”

High5Games, a majority owner of High5Casino, will be charged with 1,065 criminal counts of conducting illegal gaming activity.

Investigators will seek criminal charges for all of the violations of Connecticut’s gaming laws, for which each charge is a Class A misdemeanor carrying a penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

DCP will also seek restitution for eligible consumers who suffered a financial loss after being misled to believe that High5Casino was a legal form of gaming in Connecticut.

“We are disappointed that a licensed gaming service provider took advantage of Connecticut consumers by operating an illegal casino platform,” said DCP Gaming Division director Kris Gilman. “It is difficult to recover funds for consumers from illegal platforms. We remind consumers that gambling on licensed platforms is the only way to guarantee recovered funds in the event of an issue with a game or platform.”

There are only two legal platforms licensed to accept online casino wagers from Connecticut consumers – FanDuel (in partnership with Mohegan Sun) and DraftKings (Foxwoods Casino).

Following the licence suspension, High5Games’ content has been removed from FanDuel and DraftKings’ platforms.