The U.K. gambling firm Entain—formerly GVC—has set aside £585 million as a likely payment as part of its deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with British prosecutors over bribery charges that its former Turkish-based sports betting business Sportingbet incurred before GVC sold it in 2017, iGaming Next reported August 10.
This would be the second-largest such settlement in the history of British gambling.
The company had previously announced it was being invested by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)—which is a department that is responsible for the collection of taxes—over alleged bribery by its former company in Turkey. The alleged offenses are for violating Section 7 of the 2010 Bribery Act.
Entain has been negotiating a DPA with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and says it believes it can resolve the investigation by the fourth quarter of this year. Any such agreement would have to be approved by the court. According to the iGaming Next report, the company would be allowed to pay the settlement over four years.
Entain hopes that it will receive credit for its full cooperation with the investigation.
Entain Chairman Barry Gibson said in a statement: “Following a complete overhaul of our business model, strategy and culture in the last few years, the Entain of today bears no resemblance to the GVC of yesterday.”
That overhaul has included a review of anti-bribery policies and procedures and strengthening the company’s compliance program.
Gibson added, “We are pleased to be making good progress towards drawing a line under this historical issue, which relates to a business that was sold by a former management team of the group nearly six years ago. We have been working closely with the CPS throughout this process, and they have recognized our extensive cooperation.”
