MrQ Settles With UKGC For £690,947 Over Breaches

Gaming operator Lindar Media, the company behind the brand MrQ, has agreed to a £690,947 settlement with the UK Gambling Commission due to social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

The settlement, which totally isn't a fine, was reached following an investigation into the company's practices by the UKGC, who started looking into the company following a compliance assessment in September of last year. The regulator found that Lindar Media had breached various Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice for its UK licence, which necessitated action by the UKGC.

The company was found to have had weaknesses in its social responsibility obligations. Lindar's head of regulatory compliance also took on additional management positions at the company without regulatory approval, which falls outside of the regulatory expectation. The group also didn't advertise their betting product responsibly, and also failed to make the required contributions to organisations that help those experiencing gambling harm.

Anti-money laundering policies were also not sufficient, with thresholds for reviews being too high, and assessments for the risks were also not adequate. Controls were also not properly implemented, which is also a breach.

In a statement regarding the settlement, Lindar media CEO Savvas Fellas said, "My focus since 2022 has been centred around maturing the day-to-day operations through the development of the senior leadership team.

"We've implemented scalable processes that provide consistency as we grow and built technology-driven models that underpin compliance and safer gambling promises to our players; all of which are aligned with our mission of offering progressive, value entertainment - with delight and transparency."

The settlement funds will go toward social responsibility causes in the UK, but no firm distribution was announced.