GVC, which bought Ladbrokes Coral for £4 billion last year, will pay £5.9 million in a settlement with UK regulators who have levied some of the highest fines ever against the company for failings in anti-money laundering systems and problem gambling protections at Ladbrokes Coral.
The UK Gambling Commission cited “systemic failings” at Ladbrokes Coral in preventing money-laundering and problem gambling in incidents that happened from 2014 to 2917, before GVC acquired the company.
The commission announced £4.8 million of the settlement will go to initiatives to prevent problem gambling and £1.1m to victims of crimes used to fund gambling.
The incidents cited by the commission include Coral not monitoring a customer who deposited £1.5 million into their account over almost three years and on some days gambled about 10 times—losing £64,000 in one month alone.
Others involve a lack of checks to deter money-laundering among customers depositing large sums of money into their accounts and a failure to interact with customers suffering from gambling addiction, according to local reports.
The probe, which came about following reports from lawyers and the police, involved seven customer accounts and may result in further penalties for GVC, the commission said.
GVC has committed to appointing solicitors to review a further five customer accounts as well as a sample of existing customers. If any are found to transgress responsible gambling checks, GVC could be required to pay back losses, the commission said.
The report fed into calls for a complete review of all online gambling licenses from UK lawmakers.
“I fear that today’s fine by the Gambling Commission will not be the last,” said Tom Watson, deputy leader of the country’s labor party to London’s Financial Times. “We need to get a proper hold on what is happening in the British market.”
GVC said in a press release it has improved its safer gambling processes to ensure it was “fully compliant with its licensing obligations.” It has increased the number of staff in its compliance department since 2016 and “materially increased” its checks on the origins of players’ funds.
Kenny Alexander, chief executive, said the failings were “unacceptable.”
“Since the acquisition, I have overseen a systematic review of the enlarged group’s player-protection procedures and the individuals responsible for these problems have exited the business,” said Kenny Alexander, chief executive of GVC. “I am confident that we now have in place a robust and industry-leading approach to player-protection.”
