British gaming regulators hit Kindred Group brands 32Red and Platinum Gaming with a combined £7.1 million ($8.8 million USD) fine for various social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance issues. The fines show that the Commission is still very much on the job while it waits for the long-promised gambling reform white paper, that’s been promised for years.
The fines break down into £4,195,655 ($5 million USD) for 32Red Ltd., operator of 32Red.com, and £2,937,599 ($3.5 million USD) for Platinum Gaming Ltd., operators of unibet.co.uk. Both the Kindred-owned companies were charged with the kind of compliance failures that the Commission is always on the hunt for, mainly allowing potential problem gamblers to lose large amounts of money in a very short time and not doing enough to identify the source of player funds.
Some of the specific allegations against 32Red include allowing a player to deposit £43,000 ($52,000 USD) and lose £36,000 ($43,000) of it within a week. The company is also accused of allowing other potential problem gamblers to make multiple large deposits during very short periods of time.
Platinum Gaming is accused of failing to identify customers who had multiple accounts, along with a failure to review and update its own AML policies.
In a statement posted on the GB Gambling Commission website, Gambling Commission director Kay Roberts summed up the situation saying, “These failures highlight clearly that both operators failed to interact with customers in a way which minimises the risk of them experiencing harms associated with gambling. Our investigations also showed that policies and procedures were overlooked, both around customer accounts and anti-money laundering practices.
“Ultimately, it is an example which all gambling operators should take notice of to ensure they protect their customers at all times.”