The online gambling operator Mr Green is facing a £3-million fine as part of an investigation of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) that had been specially targeting online casinos. The company is the ninth gambling business that is expected to face action as part of a watchdog’s probe that has led to penalty packages amounting to over £20 million since 2018.
Mr Green will be forced to pay a total of £3 million to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms as part of the announced penalty package due to its failures to prove it has effective procedures against money laundering and gambling-related harm.
As the UKGC confirmed, six gambling businesses have ended up surrendering their operating licences since the beginning of the enforcement action and can no longer offer their services to British customers. As part of the investigation into the nine most serious operating licence cases, the gambling watchdog of the UK examined the actions of 22 individual Personal Management Licence holders.
The UKGC further noted that seven checks are still ongoing. Six out of the 22 holders have already surrendered their operating licences, other six received a formal warning and one received advice to conduct. The gambling regulatory body has not taken any further action against two licence holders.
The Fine Came as Part of Ongoing Regulatory Probe into UK Online Gambling Sector
The UK gambling regulator revealed that Mr Green failed to carry out social responsibility interaction with a customer who generated a £50,000 winning, then gambled all of it away and ended up depositing more money.
As explained by the UKGC, the investigation into Mr Green’s operations also found that the online gambling business had accepted a photograph of a laptop screen displaying an alleged crypto-trading account with currency in dollars as an adequate source of funds. Furthermore, the probe found that the gambling operator took 10-year-old evidence of claims for a £176,000 payout as satisfactory source-of-funds evidence for a customer after accepting deposits worth more than £1 million.
The Executive Director of the UKGC, Richard Watson, revealed that the probe unveiled what he called “systemic failings” in the company’s social responsibility and anti-money laundering controls. Mr Watson confirmed that the aforementioned failures affected a great number of customers across Mr Green’s online casino network.
The UKGC Executive Director reminded that British customers have the right to know they are subject to special gambling operator checks that are set at making sure they access a safe and crime-free environment. He further noted that the major gambling regulatory body in the UK would continue to crack down on gambling companies that fail to protect customers the way they are supposed to.
The online gambling sector has been subjected to enhanced investigation and enforcement work as part of the Gambling Commission’s ongoing strategy to make these services safer for local customers. The process has so far included a push of raising standards in advertising, VIP customer practices, game design and reduction of online stake maximum limits. Also, enhanced ID and age verification checks, stricter rules for customer interaction and a ban of credit cards use in online gambling have been unveiled.
- Author
Olivia Cole
