Responsible Gambling

888.com Fined Record £7.8 Million For Failing Customers

If you want any proof that the Gambling Commission takes its responsibilities very seriously then look at what happened when 888.com were fined a record £7,800,000 for failing to protect vulnerable customers in 2017.

The issue surrounded customers who had self-excluded themselves from 888.  They were prevented from gambling on sports or casino but because of loop-hole in their system customers were still allowed to play online bingo.

Over 7000 customers were allowed to make £3.5M in deposits between them despite being excluded.  One customer lost £1.3M, including £55,000 stolen from their employer, playing 3-4 hours a day over the course of 13 months.

There is no excuse for the failings of 888 but to be fair to them they did not allow excluded customers to gamble deliberately and they co-operated with the GC investigation the whole way, accepting their fine first time around.  We promote 888 on this site as I believe they are committed to responsible gambling, but they did make a very big mistake and were punished accordingly.

As I’ve said customers who gamble in the UK are protected by some of the most stringent laws in the world.  If you feel a company is not adhering to their commitments to protect vulnerable customers then complain, it will not fall on deaf ears.  For more about about to complain see our complaints article.

Ladbrokes Coral Fined £2.3 Million For Gala Interactive Failures

In the same year as the 888 fine above, 2017, the Ladbrokes-Coral group were fined a massive £2,300,000 for social responsibility failures.

This case surrounded two customers who managed to gamble £1.3M in stolen funds through the Gala Interactive brand, owned by Ladbrokes-Coral.  Despite both customers displaying clear signs that there could be problem gambling issues Gala failed to sufficiently investigate or curb the gambling behaviours.  One customer lost over £837k over a course of 14 months and the other over £432k over just under one year playing online games at Gala.

The investigation started by the Gambling Commission revealed that Gala did not appropriately interact with both of these customers despite stating that problem customers would be identified quicker following a similar case previously.  The fact that Gala had already been in the dock about this and allowed it to happen again is the reason the fine in this case was so big, designed to serve as a warning to other companies to sure up their responsible gambling procedures.

The company were ordered to pay back the over £1.3 million owed to the theft victims of the two customers along with a further £1M to go into a research fund into the causes of problem gambling.  Both of the customers were found guilty and sentenced to 4+ years in jail for the offence.

Again there is no excuse for this type of procedural failure and Gala being an experienced brand and part of a massive company really should have known better, especially as this exact issue had been raised with them previously.  You can read more about this here if it is of interest.

William Hill Fined £6.2 Million For Money Laundering Controls

In early 2018 the William Hill group received one of the largest fines in history form the Gambling Commission.  The fine was brought in relation to poor enforcement of social responsibility regulations and anti-money laundering.

The case related specifically to 10 players who were allowed to deposit money gained from criminal activity over a period from November 2014 to August 2016.  William Hill itself gained £1,200,000 in profit from the activity.

In three highlighted examples:

• A customer was allowed to deposit nearly £550,000 with the only verification being a phone call where the player claimed they earned a £300k+ salary.  In fact they were earning £30k a year and the money was being sourced illegally.
• Another was allowed to deposit in the region of £150,000 and lost over £110,000 over a year and a half without any significant responsible gambling intervention.
• A third customer deposited £650k over the same period and although the account was flagged as potential money laundering management procedures failed and the player was allowed to continue for a further 6 months before their account was suspended.

The company was issued with a £5M fine with additional instruction to divest themselves of the £1.2M in profit gained.  This is yet another strong sign for the GC that they will not let UK licenced companies get away with this activity.  It also clearly demonstrated why betting sites must verify your age, identity and source of funds.

32Red £2M Fine For Failing To Protect A Customer

32Red, owned by the Kindred group, were fined £2,000,000 in June 2018 for systematic failure in protecting a customer with problem gambling.  Despite making over £750,000 in deposits with over 20 incidents indicating problem gambling 32Red did not intervene or carry out any financial or social checks as they are obliged to under the conditions of their license.

The customer was not only given no appropriate help but they were also offered bonuses repeatedly to encourage further play.  Even after the customer won over £1M and instantly gambled this again the betting company did not act.

The fine includes all financial gain, around £700k, £1.3M to be donated to the National Responsible Gambling Strategy and the costs of the case.

Daub Alderney Fined £7.1M – Anti-Money Laundering Failures

2018 was a big year for GC clamp-downs on operators who were not fulfilling their legal obligations.  The biggest fine of the year, and second highest on record, was doled out to Daub Alderney (a bingo and casino site network and subsidiary of Stride Gaming) in November of that year.

The operator failed to appropriately check the source of funds for 742 accounts that deposited over £50,000 with the company. There was also issues in relation to payment details that did not match those of the customer and numerous duplicate accounts allowing self-excluded players to continue to bet.

The GC also found there were “significant limitations” in Daub’s ability to “proactively identify and mitigate risk”. Daub were found to have given insufficient resources to identifying social responsibility risks, including a lack of staff training and no specific policies for VIP players.  Customers were also inappropriately offered incentives to continue gambling.

Going forward Daub will now also have additional stipulations on their license, such as money-laundering mandatory training for staff and appointment of a money laundering officer who holds their own personal management license.  The brand also needs to engage in regular external audits with the GC to prove they have implemented appropriate strategies.  Daub admitted fault and put away £4M to deal with the fine, the GC therefore sent out a strong signal by almost doubling the fine levied based on what the board expected.

Mr Green Fined £2 Million For Regulatory Failings

Mr Green, the Swedish betting brand bought by William Hill for £242 million in 2018, was fined £3,000,000 by the UKGC in February 2020 for failing to appropriately enact procedures that prevent harm and money laundering.

Specifically the brand did not carry out social responsibility checks for some customers, one cited in the report gambled away a £50,000 win before depositing £1000’s more without the brand intervening.  In another example Mr Green allowed one customer to deposit over £1,000,000 without sufficient checks on the source of their funds.  In this case the group accepted a payout claim for £176k that was made ten years previously as evidence.

The Gambling Commission expects operators to verify any sources of funds where there could be suspected money laundering.  This was not done to an appropriate level by Mr Green who were also shown to be accepting things like screenshots of crypto-currency accounts listed in dollars as adequate source of funds.

Betway Given Largest UKGC Fine To Date, £11.6 Million 

In 2020 Betway went quiet over the Cheltenham Festival, which was a strange move for a company that usually goes all out for the event and sponsors many feature races.  The reason for this became apparent when the UKGC released its largest fine to date for the operator right in the middle of the festival in March.

The £11,600,000 fine was levied against the company principally for failing in customer protection and preventing money laundering.  The case centres around one customer who was allowed to deposit over £8 million in four years losing over £4 million of this.  Betway did not appropriately check  the source of these funds from this VIP player as well as other funds totalling up to £5.8 million.  The company also failed in their social responsibility, allowing one customer to deposit and lose nearly £190,000 in just two days.

Entain Record £17M Fine For Failing To Monitor Customers

Ladbrokes were on the receiving end of the largest UKGC fine to date in August 2022, a staggering £17,000,000.  The record fine was issued for serious failings by Ladbrokes in monitoring customers who were racking up large debts with the brand.  The issues relate to customers who deposited large amounts between December 2019 and October 2022 that went mostly unchallenged.

One customer was able to deposit nearly three quarters of a million pounds over 14 months without undergoing any checks for money laundering.  Another customer was able to fund their account to the tune of £230,000 over 8 months but were only contacted a single time by online chat.  A user that lived in social housing was able to deposit £186,000 over 6 months without any significant checks.

The fine relates to Entain as a whole, not just Ladbrokes.  This is because some customers were allowed to create accounts with other brands within the company without undergoing checks.  One customer who was blocked by Coral for spending £60,000 in 12 months was able to open an account with Ladbrokes unchallenged and deposit a further £30,000 in a single day.

The fine is not only a record at the time it was issued it is also a serious warning to Entain.  Basically, they are on a last warning now and further failures in this regard could lead to a license suspension.

William Hill Record £19.2M Fine For Widespread Failings

The 19.2M fine handed out to William Hill in March 2023 set yet another record, it was also interesting as it came just before the release of a new gambling review and was possibly linked to the UKGC wanting to show its teeth amidst criticism in the past that it hasn’t done enough to stop large companies flouting the rules.

The fine in this instance relates to an array of failings actually spread across William Hill International (65%), Mr Green (20%) and William Hill Organisation Ltd (15%).  The main reason for the fine being so high was down to social responsibility failings, for example, one customer was allowed to open and account and spend £23,000 in just 20 minutes without any checks at all.  All customers are supposed to be monitored for this and new customers especially shouldn’t be able to gamble to this level until affordability has been assessed.

That was just one of a wealth of customers who had suffered similar failings. Linked to that the group failed in some money laundering checks, allowing customers to make large deposits without appropriate due diligence.

While all the failings came before William Hill in the UK and Europe was purchased by 888 Holdings it is the new company that will bear the burden of the record fine.  888 had already been struggling having taken on so much debt in the purchase of William Hill and their share price took a further hit on the news on this fine.  It is said the UKGC found so many failings here that they considered revoking the gambling licenses, but in the end stopped short and issued a record fine instead.