The owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, Entain, was hit with a record-breaking sanction of £17 million because of its failure to implement player safety and anti-money laundering measures.
The betting giant was compelled to pay a settlement of £17 million after it was subject to a number of regulatory violations and faced the possibility of losing its licence to conduct business in the UK. The fine comes after the group’s inaction as individual customers spent hundreds of thousands of pounds with Entail failing to put proper checks in place to support customers. The Gambling Commission has identified several shortcomings in the company’s online and street business and has accused Entain of “completely unacceptable” failures, including slow help to customers who were struggling with gambling debt. The company has been warned that it could lose its licence to operate in the UK if it breaches any more rules.
The events occurred after the government announced a review of gambling laws, prompting the industry to pledge better controls to combat addiction and prevent money laundering. Entain, formerly known as GVC Holdings, is one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming entertainment groups with a comprehensive portfolio of established brands. The slots available on Entain platforms such as Bwin, Foxy Bingo, Gamebookers, Gala Spins, and Sportingbet have received the best online slot reviews and offer some iconic gaming options. According to the Gambling Commission, the FTSE 100 group would pay £14 million for failures at LC International, which runs 13 websites, and £3 million for breaches at Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Limited division, which operates 2,746 premises across Britain. Andrew Rhodes, the commission’s chief executive, commented:
“There were completely unacceptable anti-money laundering and safer gambling failures. They should be aware that we will be monitoring them very carefully, and further serious breaches will make the removal of their licence to operate a very real possibility.”
The anti-money laundering shortcomings involved a series of customers depositing large sums online without carrying out the sufficient source of funds checks. In one such case, a customer made deposits counting £186,000 over the course of six months despite the fact that it was known they resided in social housing, while another online gambler made deposits totalling more than £230,000 over the course of eighteen months but was only once contacted in an online chat for a source of funds evaluation. Yet another consumer was allowed to deposit £742,000 in 14 months but was not flagged for potentially laundering money. One more incident that caught the attention of the Gambling Commission involved a customer who had spent £60,000 in 12 months without sharing the source of the funding and was blocked by Entain’s Coral brand, only to have the same customer immediately open an account and deposit £30,000 with its Ladbrokes brand.
Entain sources assert that the Group has accepted the settlement in an official statement in order to “put an end to the dispute” and “prevent additional expensive and drawn-out judicial battles.” In its quarterly results, Entain had previously taken the settlement into account and stated:
“Entain accepts that certain legacy systems and processes supporting the operations of its British business during 2019 and 2020 were not in line with the evolving regulatory expectations of the commission in respect to aspects of social responsibility and anti-money laundering safeguards. However, the Group also notes the commission’s statement that it found no evidence whatsoever of criminal spend within Entain’s operations.”
The statement underlines Entain’s ongoing initiatives to implement stricter controls between December 2019 and October 2020, after the time frame covered by the penalties, including the application of artificial intelligence to identify high-risk clients.
