A U.K. court has rejected an appeal by the Rank Group’s Daub Alderney online subsidiary of a £5.8 million fine (€6.7 million/$7.2 million) levied in September 2021 after Daub Alderney was found by the Great Britain Gambling Commission to be in violation of social responsibility and anti-money laundering rules between January 2019 and March 2020.
The Commission said Daub Alderney did not have appropriate measures in place to detect or prevent problem gambling in a series of incidents that occurred during that period. Daub Alderney appealed to the First-Tier Tribunal on the grounds the penalty was disproportionate.
Judge Jacqueline Findlay disagreed, dismissing the appeal and holding the penalty was a “fair and reasonable regulatory response” to the violations. Findlay also referenced an earlier fine issued to the company involving money laundering and social responsibility.
“I find that there were serious breaches which were similar to the breaches for which a substantial financial penalty was imposed in 2018 and there are no new facts which persuade me that the decision was wrong,” Findlay wrote in the ruling. “I find that the (Commission Regulatory) Panel did not err in law and complied with its statutory obligations.”
“We do not take the decision to fine gambling companies lightly but we will always take firm, decisive action against operators who fail to follow rules aimed at making gambling safe and free from crime,” said Gambling Commission deputy chief executive Sarah Gardner, according to iGaming Business.
The decision was one more blow to a Rank Group that has struggle to reach profitability. The operator recently predicted that operating profit for the year to end June 2023 will be in the range of £10 million to £20 million, which would be a drop of up to 75 percent year-on-year. The company cite low performance of its Grosvenor venues due to high operating leverage.
