The UK Gambling Commission has announced that it has fined online gambling operator In Touch Games (ITG) £6.1 million (€6.9 million) for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
According to the announcement, the company runs 11 gambling websites including bonusboss.co.uk, cashmo.co.uk, drslot.co.uk, jammymonkey.com and slotfactory.com.
The commission revealed the social responsibility failings included:
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UK Gambling Commission Fines In Touch Games £6.1 Million
- Failure to verify the source of funds for a customer and accepting their word that their salary was £6,000 (€6,787) a month.
Anti-money laundering failures included:
- Failing to recognize that a customer was a beneficiary of a life insurance policy; had links to high-risk jurisdictions; or was a politically exposed person (“PEP”) – These are standard identifiers within the company’s money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment. UK Gambling Commission Fines In Touch Games £6.1 Million
- Failure to follow the Commission’s money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment guidance UK Gambling Commission Fines In Touch Games £6.1 Million
This is the third time in four years that ITG has faced financial penalties. In 2019 it paid a £2.2 million settlement for regulatory failures. The company then received a £3.4 million fine in 2021 and warning for further failures.
Kay Roberts, Executive Director of Operations, said:
UK Gambling Commission Fines In Touch Games £6.1 Million“This £6.1m fine shows that we will take escalating enforcement action where failures are repeated and all licensees should be acutely aware of this.”
This is largest financial penalty imposed so far in 2023 and brings the total for 2023 to more than €9.1 million. According to research by USA-Casino.com, gambling industry fines in 2022 came to €251,712,034 / $269,532,490 – a significant increase of 443.9% compared to 2021’s total of €44,753,969 / $48,642,992.