Mr Green, the online bingo and casino operator, has been handed a hefty fine of £3m by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) in what it calls ‘systematic failings.’ The popular online casino owned by William Hill, failed in its measures to stop money laundering and problem gambling.
This takes the total number of gambling companies fined by the governing body to nine after a lengthy probe was launched back in 2018. The outcome of the investigation has resulted in fines of more than £20m being handed to the nine operators.
The UKGC scolded Mr Green for a series of transgressions of its gambling license which included inadequate checks on a specific customer. The customer in question won a staggering £50K on the online casino before blowing the lot on new bets and then went on to deposit more!
It’s in the rules that gambling companies must check customer’s source of funds to ensure they’re not money laundering or betting more than they can actually afford. Mr Green’s 10-year evidence of a £176K claims pay-out was more than satisfactory when it came to the source of funds for another customer, who actually managed to spend more than £1m!
It gets even more bizarre. The popular online bingo and casino operator once accepted an image of a laptop screen showing the currency as dollars in a cryptocurrency trading account as an adequate source of funds.
Rolling in the Deep!
Richard Watson, the Gambling Commission executive director, said: “Our investigation uncovered systemic failings in respect of both Mr Green’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 which 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 insisted that the failings that took place were done before William Hill acquired the company and had “since been addressed by the introduction of new processes.”
They’re not the only company to feel the strain. The fine came on the same day that Flutter, the owner of Paddy Power Betfair, admitted that their revenue is being hit hard due to new measures to reduce problem gambling.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has said it wants to ensure that the UK standards were the “highest in the world” after Gambling With Lives, a charity which was set up by two grieving parents who lost their so to suicide over gambling addiction, called on the Prime Minister to end gambling sponsorship in football.
In response to the call on the PM, Michael Dugher, Chief Executive of the BGC said in a statement: “We take our responsibility to protect young people and those at risk of harm incredibly seriously. As part of our safer gambling commitments…
…our members have already introduced a ‘whistle to whistle’ ban on advertising during sport; substantially increased funding for research, education and treatment; implemented new ID and age-verification checks; ended any suggestion of exclusive rights to screen FA Cup games and will ban betting with credit cards.
We are determined to drive big changes across the betting and gaming industry. Millions of people regularly enjoy a flutter and do so safely and we will ensure that our standards are the highest in the world.”
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Comments (1)
Bubles12
03/09/20, 08:03:40 AM
That’s some fine! Why on earth did they accept an image of a computer screen? It’s not proof at all. More needs to be done to stop problem gambling. It seems some operators are turning a blind eye to get more profit.
