The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has warned the country’s gambling industry that it intends to use all tools it has at its disposal in order to ensure customer safety. The statement was made after an enforcement action of the British gambling regulatory body resulted in тhe suspension of the operating licence of an online casino. The gambling company faced a £3.8-million fine, as well.
Currently, Genesis Global Limited runs a total of 14 UK-facing online gambling platforms, including genesiscasino.com, casinocruise.com, funbet.com, and sloty.com. Apart from having its operating licence suspended by the UKGC and suffering a monetary fine, the watchdog also warned the company that it must undergo further extensive auditing.
As Casino Guardian reported at the time, the suspension of the gambling company from operating in the UK first came in July 2020 after a series of investigations revealed significant money laundering and social responsibility failures.
Then, in October 2020, the UK Gambling Commission decided to lift the suspension after significant compliance improvements. However, the regulatory probe into the company’s operations continued and was brought to an end earlier today, bringing a monetary fine worth £3.8 million, a warning, and an additional licence condition requiring Genesis Global Limited to further audit its operations.
UKGC Finds Several Money Laundering and Social Responsibility Failures in Genesis Global’s Operations
As mentioned above, the investigation held by the UKGC found that the gambling company violated a number of money laundering and social responsibility rules.
The gambling regulator revealed three money laundering failures on Genesis Global’s part.
The company requested proof of one customer’s source of funds only when they had already lost £209,000. Before that, the company had estimated that the annual income of the customer in question amounted to £111,000 because the consumer had informed it they worked as a director and this was the average salary of London-based directors. Genesis Global failed to take into account the fact that the company where the customer worked was dormant and director salaries range in value. The gambling operator also failed to verify data provided by the customer in order to get enough evidence of their level of spending.
Furthermore, the company allowed a customer to deposit more than £1,300,000 and lose £600,000 before the sufficient source of funds checks were carried out. As a result, the customer provided Genesis Global with documentation that included a bank statement showing deposits and payments to and from their accounts that were not enough to support their level of gambling.
Another customer was allowed to lose £107,000 in a 6-month period without sufficient source of funds checks to be carried out by the gambling operator. They asserted Genesis their source of funds came from an allowance from their parents who owned an overseas-based business. The customer provided several bank statements but none of them proved any source of income.
As mentioned above, a number of social responsibility failures were also cited by the UKGC at the time of Genesis Global Limited’s operating licence suspension.
The investigation of the country’s gambling regulator found that the company failed to carry out meaningful responsible gambling interactions with or implement effective restrictions on a customer’s account whose owner spent £245,000 in three months, although Genesis found out that the customer’s annual income as a National Health Service nurse was £30,000 only 3 days into their relationship.
Genesis Global also failed to carry out meaningful responsible gambling interactions with a customer whose losses amounted to £197,000 in more than 6 months. The company did not establish the customer’s affordability. The gambling company even allowed the customer to open another account and deposit £200 even after they closed their previous account stating that they wanted to spend more time with their family.
The investigation carried out by the UKGC also found that Genesis Global failed to carry out meaningful interactions regarding responsible gambling or establish the affordability of a customer who lost £234,000 in 6 weeks only.
- Author
Olivia Cole
