U.K. Gambling Company Fined $7.6 Million Over Alleged Money-Laundering Control Issues
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U.K. online gambling company Intouch Games Ltd. has been fined the equivalent of $7.6 million after a regulator cited a series of failures in its program to prevent money laundering.
The U.K.’s Gambling Commission on Wednesday announced the £6.1 million penalty for Intouch, the third action the regulator has taken against the company since 2019.
The Gambling Commission has been among the more active enforcement bodies in its approach to the growing online gambling sector, taking action against companies when it has found problems with controls intended to prevent illicit money flows.
Intouch was cited for allegedly failing to put in place policies and procedures to address money-laundering risk factors, such as customers’ links to high-risk jurisdictions or their political exposure.
The Gambling Commission also faulted Intouch for allegedly not following its own policies to demand information from customers on the source of their funds.
Birmingham, England-based Intouch, which operates 11 gambling websites, was acquired in June by Skywind Holdings Ltd., a provider of online gambling software. Representatives for Intouch and Skywind didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Intouch in 2019 entered a £2.2 million settlement with the Gambling Commission. In 2021, it was fined £3.4 million, in part over alleged failures in its anti-money-laundering efforts. The company didn’t conduct adequate customer due-diligence checks and failed to take into account the risks of letting customers fund their accounts from cryptocurrency exchanges, the Gambling Commission said.
Last year, the Gambling Commission imposed several large fines against some of the U.K.’s largest gambling companies over online issues, including a £14 million fine againstEntainPLC, which operates the online Ladbrokes site; a £9.4 million fine against the operator of 888.com; and a £2.9 million fine on the operator of the Betfred website.
