Betfred Ordered to Pay £322,000 by UKGC For Money Laundering Failures

Famous gambling operator, Befred, will have to pay a fine of £322,000 for failures in controlling money laundering activities, as they were instructed by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) to do so.

The UKGC investigation led to findings that revealed operators’ lack of action in finding the source of funds of a customer who deposited £210,000 and lost £140,000. It turned out that the said money was stolen.

The Victim Must be Reimbursed

This occurred during the 12-day period in November 2017…

…and this caught UKGC’s attention because a situation in which a customer deposits and loses such a big amount of money in such a short period of time clearly shows the lack of control on operator’s end.

Betfred will need to make sure their anti-money laundering policies and mechanisms are effective and in place from now on. They will also need to return £140,000 to the victim from who the money was stolen and pay an additional £182,000 as a financial fine imposed by the Commission.

The said penalty money will be spent accelerating the delivery of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.

What the Findings Say

According to UKGC’s public statement and findings…

“…the Investigation into Petfre was the result of information passed to the Commission regarding a customer who had been convicted of a £2million fraud and had been spending stolen money through several gambling operators including Petfre.”

Furthermore, the lengthy document concludes that the operator accepted that there were omissions in their system and that they will comply with the punishment.

UKGC reported that Betfred was very open and transparent when helping UKGC with this investigation. They were also able to make timely disclosure of material facts. They were also able to demonstrate the insight into the failings.

GiG Partnership

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) joined forces with Betfred regarding the implementation of GiG Comply marketing compliance technology.

The operator’s director of compliance, Adele Farell, said of this landmark moment for the company:

“Protecting players and abiding by regulations has never been so important, so we are happy to be working with GiG Comply. At Betfred, we want to ensure that our affiliate partners are working in a responsible and compliant way, and GiG Comply is the most effective and efficient way for us to monitor the content they are publishing for our brand.”

Source:

“Petfre to pay 322,000 for money laundering failures”, gamblingcommission.gov.uk, October 22, 2019.