UKGC Fines Ladbrokes Coral £5.9 Million

UK betting giant Ladbrokes Coral has been slapped with a huge £5.9 million fine by the UK Gambling Commission over a series of failures related to player protection and anti-money laundering measures.

The fine is among the largest in the country's history and comes after repeated failures that took place from November 2014 to October 2017. The lapses took place with both the Ladbrokes and Coral brand, and new owner GVC Holdings will have to foot the bill for the issues. The group was fined for the following incidents:

• Allowing a player to play after asking Ladbrokes to stop sending promotions and not carrying out responsible gambling interactions. That player lost £98,000 over two and a half years.
• Allowing a player to spend £1.5 million over 10 months without asking that player for the source of the funds and not intervening, despite signs of addictive behaviors popping up.
• Not carrying out responsible gaming interactions with a player who deposited £140,000 in four months.
• Allowing a player to continue betting, despite the company having concerns about funds and whether or not the player could afford to lose that sum of money.
• Not conducting money laundering checks on two accounts, where funds were stolen and used to gamble.

Speaking about the huge fine UKGC Executive Director Richard Watson said, "Decision makers at gambling businesses need to invest in the welfare of their customers and the integrity of money being gambled with. These were systemic failings at a large operator which resulted in consumers being harmed and stolen money flowing through the business and this is unacceptable."

GVC Holdings has said that they'll cooperate in order to become compliant, including using forensic auditors to ensure player fund sources.

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