Four UK gambling companies slugged with massive fines

FOUR gambling companies in the United Kingdom have been fined a total of £4.5m for breaching their duty of care to consumers and failing to adequately prevent money-laundering.

Betit Operations Limited will pay £1.4 million, InTouch Games Limited was stung £2.2m, MT Secure Trade will be forced to cough up £700,000 and BestBet Limited will pay a total of £230,972.

Gambling Commission executive director Richard Watson said the regulator would continue to probe the online casino industry and make it as safe as possible for British citizens.

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“We have been working hard to raise standards in the online industry to ensure that gambling is crime-free and that the one in five people in Britain who gamble online every month can do so safely,” he said.

“But our work will not stop here. As a regulator, we will continue to set and enforce standards that the industry must comply with to protect consumers.

“We expect operators to know their customers and to ask the right questions to make sure they meet their anti-money laundering and social responsibility obligations.”

The latest round of fines issued to gambling companies operating online continues the Gambling Commission’s ongoing investigation into the online casino sector in the UK.

The Gambling Commission has revealed in a news release that over the last 18 months it has assessed over 120 online casino operators. It issued 45 of them with ultimatums to raise their standards, with 38 of these already “showing signs of improvement”.

Another 34 of the casino sites assessed were compliant with the standards expected by the Gambling Commission, or needed only minor adjustments to comply.

Five operators have left the UK since the operation began and are no longer able to accept customers from this jurisdiction.

In November of last year, the Gambling Commission issued close to £14m in fines to Daub Alderney (£7.1m), Casumo (£5.85m) and Video Slots was due to pay £1m in lieu of a financial penalty.

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