Entain (LON:ENT) PLC has been slapped with a record fine of £17mln by the UK’s Gambling Commission for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures at its online and brick and mortar businesses.
The watchdog criticised the owner of Ladbrokes (LON:LCL), Sportingbet and Foxy Bingo for failing to protect vulnerable customers and conducting adequate anti money-laundering and terrorist funding checks.
In one case, the gaming group conducted just one chat interaction with an online customer who spent extended periods gambling overnight during an 18-month period in which they deposited £230,845, the commission said.
It also failed to conduct adequate risk assessments of its online business to protect against money laundering and terrorist financing and allowed online customers to deposit large amounts without carrying out sufficient source of funds (SOF) checks.
Entain will pay £14mln for failures at its online business, which runs 13 websites, including ladbrokes.com, coral.co.uk and foxybingo.com.
In addition, it will pay £3mln for failures at its Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming operation which runs 2,746 gambling premises across Britain.
The commission said the £17mln will be directed towards socially responsible purposes as part of the regulatory settlement with Entain.
The company will face additional licence conditions to ensure a business board member oversees an improvement plan.
A third-party audit to review its compliance with the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice must take place within a year, the commission said.
Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive, said: “Our investigation revealed serious failures that have resulted in the largest enforcement outcome to date.
“There were completely unacceptable anti-money laundering and safer gambling failures. Operators are reminded they must never place commercial considerations over compliance.
“This is the second time this operator has fallen foul of rules in place to make gambling safer and crime free.