South African authorities are making good on their vow to confiscate the winnings of gamblers who play on unauthorized online gambling sites.

Last year, South Africa released its new National Gambling Amendment Bill, which seeks to amend the National Gambling Act 2004 to reinforce prohibitions against online gambling anywhere except locally licensed sports- and race-betting sites.

On Saturday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced that it had confiscated around R1.25m (US $97k) following “unprecedented court proceedings” against several gamblers who generated “unlawful winnings” via international online gambling sites.

The DTI warned punters engaging in illegal online activity that they would be “unable to receive their winnings and would expose themselves to criminal prosecution.” In addition to losing their winnings, anyone caught gambling online illegally – either from their home or from public venues such as internet cafes – could face fines of up to R10m.