Unibet Casino Owner to Pay £1.6m for Anti-Money Laundering Shortcomings

Posted at: 13 June 2019

In an update published on its website on June 13, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced that it has imposed a financial penalty of £1.6 million to Platinum Gaming. The latter is a Kindred Group-owned company, operating Unibet and Bingo.com brands. The penalty is a result of a UKGC finding that Platinum Gaming has violated the anti-money laundering regulations and allowed a fraudster to spend more than £600,000 of stolen money.

What happened?

The investigation started in February 2017 when a customer opened a casino account and acquired a VIP status shortly after. Since then, the customer has been spending tremendous amounts of money but instead of questioning its source of funds, Platinum Gaming identified the customer as a high-value player and did not take timely measures towards the suspicious activity.

When Platinum Gaming requested a source of funds proof, the customer closed the account. During the time when the account was active, the customer deposited a total of £651,370 and lost £619, 420.

The penalty package sees Platinum Gaming give back £629, 420 to the victim and pay £990, 200 in lieu of a financial penalty. The operator also has to cover the Commission’s expenses for the investigation amounting to £9,800.

The Commission considers the violation an isolated incident, so Platinum Gaming should not fear license suspension or cancellation.

The Platinum Gaming penalty is yet another demonstration of UKGC’s commitment to tighten the AML regulations and make operators adhere to them. The fine comes only a day after the announcement that Gamesys was hit with a £1.2m penalty package due to social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. The operator has to reimburse the identified victims of the crime and pay a £690,000 fine. The amount will go to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.