The UK Gambling Commission has published the official conclusion of a probe into the operations of International Multi-Media Entertainments Limited (IMME).
The country’s gambling regulatory body revealed that the gambling operator had provided facilities for wagering on the outcome of international lotteries under the holding of a real-event betting permit. As the UKGC the gambling business had been obtaining customisation by calling gamblers and hosting its online gambling platform lotteries.com.
Currently, a lottery syndicate business that can be operated without a licence is also run by International Multi-Media Entertainments Limited. As the UKGC explained, this side of the company’s business pretty much relies on staff members getting in contact with customers by phone, while also using the thelotterycentre.com platform for its digital marketing.
In mid-March 2020, the UK gambling regulatory body announced its decision to suspend IMME’s operating licence following concerns raised about the way the company used to run its business. At the time, the UKGC also rolled out an investigation into the company’s operations to check whether there were really some violations in the way its business had been conducted.
At the time when the Commission published its investigation findings, the body’s Executive Director Helen Venn said that the major gambling regulatory body of the UK would not tolerate gambling operators behaving in the way International Multi-Media Entertainments Limited had. Ms Venn also reminded gambling operators that they were required to follow the watchdog’s anti-money laundering and social responsibility rules, so a failure to do so would lead to regulatory action against them.
Money Laundering, Social Responsibility and Suitability Failures Found by the UKGC Investigation
UKGC’s Executive Director Helen Venn explained that the operating licence of IMME was suspended by the regulator following initial concerns. Now, with the investigation into the gambling company’s operations brought to an end, the UK gambling industry watchdog had discovered some failures that would have inevitably resulted in full revocation of the business’ operating permit had the operator not surrendered it already.
The investigation held by the UKGC officers into International Multi-Media Entertainments Limited found money laundering, social responsibility and suitability failures on the company’s part.
As part of the money laundering failures of the IMME, a 100-year-old customer at the time when the Gambling Commission’s review into the operator began placed bets worth £23,839 in a five-month period. The customer’s deposits more than doubled from £2,992 in September 2018 to more than £6,000 in the following month of the same year, only to continue to rise. However, the gambling company did not obtain any evidence of their source of funds. As part of another issue, the operator allowed two customers, both of whom were retired postmen, to bet £20,345 in five months and £16,207 in six months, respectively, although it knew their former job and did nothing to obtain further information to support their expenditures.
When it comes to social responsibility failings, International Multi-Media Entertainments Limited was unable to prove to the UKGC that it had held adequate safer gambling interactions with its customers. Furthermore, there were no records of interactions with a couple of elderly customers (aged 78 and 74), who were able to spend £63,951 in a little over three months and £9,379 in eight days, respectively.
Last but not least, the UK Gambling Commission found some suitability issues. For example, there were multiple customer complaints to the police and Action Fraud about the products offered by IMME. Customers also complained of being repeatedly called by sales agents of the company. Furthermore, the majority of the gambling operator’s customers (75%) were over the age of 60, while 20% were over the age of 80. As explained by the UKGC, this demographic shows that the gambling company has been disproportionately focused on older people without taking into account the fact they could have been more vulnerable to potential harm. The UK Gambling Commission also found that the call-centre agents of the International Multi-Media Entertainments Limited used aliases, which raised the question as to why the company’s staff members might choose to or be required to lie about their real identity.
- Author
Olivia Cole
