QuinnBet to pay over £609K for AML and safety failures

QuinnBet, an online bookmaker, has settled a case with the UK Gambling Commission by paying £609,104 ($830,501) due to a review which found a number of serious issues regarding the company’s anti-money laundering and safe gambling practices. This settlement covers issues from March 2023 to August 2023. As part of the settlement, the company will make a payment of £193,118 to the UK Gambling Commission, while the balance will cover the costs of the Commission investigation. The funds from the case settlement will be sent to the UK Consolidated Fund. A number of incidents have been pointed out in regards with the failures. One example is of a customer whose payslips noted an income of £2,000 per month, but who deposited a total of £9,000 in a period of four days. Another case involved a deposit by a customer of £120,000 within a period of three months, who did not have to prove the legitimacy of this money. Errors with software transference have allowed almost 200 customers to exceed the limits set for them without intention. The Commission also found that QuinnBet does not have effective systems for safeguarding their customers from irresponsible gambling. In one case, the company did not react to information about one customer placed around 4,800 bets in a single day and 7,000 the following day without triggering an internal warning. Director of enforcement at the Gambling Commission, John Pierce, highlighted: The serious consequences of relying on systems and controls that are unable to identify and respond to indicators of harm and financial crime quickly enough. We expect operators to ensure their safeguards are effective in practice to protect consumers and keep crime out of gambling. The UKGC recently took action against other operators. The recent one this week was £150,000 penalty for Holland Park Leisure over failures to participate in the mandatory multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. The action comes as the Gambling Commission continues to focus on AML and safer-gambling compliance across Britain’s licensed market.