Platinum Gaming—which operates Unibet.co.uk and uk.bing.com—has agreed to a £1.6 million settlement with the UK gaming Commission for allowing a gambler convicted of fraud to play stolen money at their sites, violating UK money laundering guidelines.
“There were weaknesses in Platinum Gaming’s systems and as a consequence, more than half a million pounds of stolen money flowed through the business,” said Richard Watson, Gambling Commission Executive Director in a press release. “This is not acceptable and I would urge all operators to carefully read this case and learn lessons so they don’t make the same mistakes.
“This is yet another example of us taking firm action against online operators who fail to protect consumers or implement effective safeguards against money laundering,” he said. “We must see the industry stepping up and providing consumers in Great Britain with the safest and fairest gambling market in the world. Where we continue to see failings, we will continue to take action.”
The commission received information that a customer who had been convicted of a £2m fraud had been spending stolen money through several gambling operators. The gambler spent £629,420 of stolen money with Platinum Gaming.
The commission ruled that the customer’s deposits were “so high and losses so significant” that Platinum Gaming should have considered refusing or barring service to the customer. Instead the operator continued to allow the customer to gamble and did not make required inquiries into the customer’s source of funds.
The Commission said that the management of this customer in relation to social responsibility and anti-money laundering “raised significant concerns” regarding the effectiveness of Platinum Gaming’s policies and procedures for social responsibility and money laundering.
As part of a settlement, Platinum Gaming returned £629,420 to the player’s victims and will pay £990,200 in lieu of a financial penalty. This money will be spent accelerating delivery of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, the commission said.
The commission also said that the case appeared to be an isolated incident and now review of the company’s licensing is planned. The commission also found that Platinum Gaming had “moved forward since the time of this incident, with clear improvements in areas where these failings were found to have occurred.”
In another matter, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has warned William Hill and Flutter Entertainment to change their advertising targeting strategies after promotions for each operator appeared in a popular app for children.
According to the authority, an ad for Flutter’s Betfair Bingo brand appeared in February in the app Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem, where players build worlds based on Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes cartoons. An ad for William Hill Vegas also appeared in the app in the same month.
The placements drew an inquiry from the authority.
Flutter Entertainment said the app had been placed by mobile engagement platform Tapjoy. The company behind the platform said it immediately corrected the error once it was discovered. William Hill also said the game publisher had mistakenly included the ad and has moved to block all its advertising from the app.
The authority ruled that the ads must not be used again without specific targeting to minimize the likelihood of under-18s seeing them. William Hill, Flutter and Tapjoy were all warned to ensure ads were appropriately targeted in future.
