The UK Gambling Commission just issued a £3 million fine to Mr Green for systemic failings implementing money laundering and problem gambling controls.
Cracking down on operators
In the past two years, the UK Gambling Commission has considerably ramped up their efforts to crack down on online gambling operators. Many fines for various failings have been issued consequently. In most cases, operators were fined for misleading advertising, failure to protect customers and even failure to prevent money laundering.
Most online casino and betting sites have thousands of customers, some even hundreds of thousands and millions. Implementing the required checks and measures to prevent problematic gambling behaviour, money laundering or simply advertising without leading customers astray is mandatory when holding a UKGC license, but operators seem to have problems adhering to the regulations.
That said, plenty of gambling operators manage just fine. So, why can’t all of them adhere to the rules and regulations properly?
Three problematic cases
Mr Green, owned by William Hill, is a well-known and very well-regulated online casino that we hold in high regard. Recently, the operator asked all UK-facing affiliates to suspend advertising for the casino.
Now, it seems, we know why. The online casino has been under investigation by the UKGC and was recently found guilty of systemic failings in implementing problem gambling and money laundering controls.
It should be noted that the problematic cases in question are sometimes several years old. For instance, since November 2014, a punter had been allowed to win and then gamble away again about £50,000, despite already carrying losses of £210,000.
Another customer at Mr Green had been allowed to gamble over £1 million, using only 10-year old evidence of a £176,000 claims payout as proof of sufficient collateral.
Finally, a customer had provided a simple screenshot of a cryptocurrency account apparently showing transactions worth £57,000 before allowing this customer to make deposits and gamble funds away.
Richard Watson, Executive Director of the Gambling Commission, commented:
“Our investigation uncovered systemic failings in respect of both Mr Green Limited’s social responsibility and anti-money laundering controls, which affected a significant number of customers across its online casinos. Consumers in Britain have the right to know that there are checks and balances in place that will help keep them safe and ensure gambling is crime-free and we will continue to crack down on operators who fail in this area.”
Mr Green has been fined with a penalty of £3 million.