BY TOM SOMACH

An Internet gambling executive who was arrested this week in the Netherlands is to be extradited to France to face charges against him.

Agence France-Presse (AFP), a French news service, reported Thursday that Unibet (www.unibet.com) CEO Petter Nylander was released on bail from a Dutch prison on Wednesday and is to be extradited to France next Monday.

Nylander was arrested in Amsterdam last Monday in connection with allegations that Unibet violated French gambling laws that protect French gambling monopolies.

At the request of French authorities, Dutch authorites arrested Nylander at the Amsterdam airport as he prepared to fly home to the U.K.

Unibet is a British company that is licensed by the tiny Mediterranean island nation of Malta.

The company is listed on the Swedish Stock Exchange, and Nylander is Swedish.

Unibet takes bets from French customers, and offers on its website online poker, online casino games, online sports betting and online horse race betting.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)