Gala Coral Fined Almost £880k in Problem Gambler Case

This story was published more than 7 years ago.

UK betting group Gala Coral has been handed a hefty fine of nearly £880,000 after they took a large sum of money from a VIP player who was stealing the funds in order to play.

The large fine was handed down by the UK Gambling Commission, as the regulator slammed Gala Coral for failing to do its due diligence in preventing both theft and problem gambling by failing to inquire as to the source of wealth of the customer. The VIP player was stealing funds from his family to continue playing, and Gala Coral will pay the man and his family £846,664 as restitution as well as £30,000 to the Commission to cover the cost of the investigation.

In its ruling the Commission wrote: "Gala Coral Group failed to conduct adequate inquires about the source of funds the customer used to gamble in store and online, and placed over-reliance on the fact that the relevant payments were all made through one UK clearing bank account. There were indicators in the customer's online and in-store play which could have been used to identify him as problem gambler."

The Commission did note that Gala Coral said that their group had serious shortcomings when it comes to fighting problem gambling and money laundering, and requested the chance to offer the fine, and thus will not face a review of its UK gaming license.

No details on whether the player faced legal discipline was available as of press time.

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About the author

Dustin Jermalowicz // News Editor
Dustin Jermalowicz
Dustin has a long-standing passion for gambling. He has been writing professionally on the subject and breaking industry news for Casino Listings since 2011. His favorite casino games include Blackjack, Poker, and Hi/Lo. A proud native of Detroit, Dustin currently lives in Michigan.
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bgsharpe
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6 May 2016 - 11:00pm
#1

Obviously it's a huge fine against Gala coral but maybe they should learn the lesson after that. We know that UK gambling commission could be quite hard in their measures against the gambling brands but maybe they are right to do so.

nzMattl
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7 May 2016 - 12:38pm
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£846,664 as restitution..... a drop in the bucket. Imagine how many people have lost their houses or cars over just a few thousand bucks. Loose change lying around in the bank is fine but how many could pay a bill but decide to gamble instead. Problem?