Investigation Revealed Multiple Failures
Alarm bells are ringing throughout UK’s online gambling industry this week after yet another casino operator was handed a huge £3.8m fine. Britain’s gambling industry has been warned the Gambling Commission (UKGC) “will use all the tools at its disposal to ensure customer safety” after an enforcement action led to a suspension and a multi-million-pound fine.
Genesis Global Limited which runs 14 websites was suspended from operating in the UK after “significant social responsibility and money laundering failures” were uncovered. The suspension was enforced in July 2021 and came to an end just three-months later in October when the UKGC were satisfied with newly implemented changes.
A Warning to All:
There were three social responsibility failings noted, first being that of an NHS nurse who despite only earning £30K a year, was able to gamble £245K in just a 3-month period! Genesis Global Limited recognised the nurses’ annual salary but failed to respond. The online casino operator also failed to interact with a customer who lost £197K over six months. This same customer closed her account and gave the reason for this as “wanting to spend more time with family,” but she was able to open up another account and deposit £200. Affordability checks and meaningful interactions were not suitable with this next customer who lost £234K in just 6-weeks.
As well as the social responsibility failings, there were three money laundering failures too. Prior to this particular customer informing Genesis Global Limited that he was a director of a London-based company, the operator took it upon themselves to estimate he was on an annual salary of £111K. Turns out the company was dormant and the operator failed to verify the info supplied.
A customer was able to deposit £1.3m and lose £600K of that before sufficient know your customer and SOF checks were carried out. Banking info supplied to the operator revealed deposits into the customers account of just £23K with outgoings of £27K, which was clearly not enough to support that level of gambling.
When it came to affordability with customer number 3, Genesis Global relied on info supplied from that customer instead of requesting proof…
…that info supplied claimed the customer was in receipt of an allowance from parents who owned factories overseas, however, bank statements showed no source of income, only transactions with other gambling companies.
The Gambling Commission who despite concluding their investigation and handing Genesis Global Limited a hefty fine, have also warned the operator that they will undergo further extensive auditing to ensure instances like this do not happen again.
Helen Venn, Commission Executive Director, was very quick to issue a warning to the online gambling industry: “All gambling businesses should pay very close attention to this case. The Commission will use all tools at its disposal to ensure consumer safety and that extends to stopping a business from actually operating. Failing to follow rules aimed at keeping gambling safe and crime-free will never be a viable business option for gambling businesses in Britain.”
Customers at any of the 14 Genesis Global Limited owned casinos will no doubt come across some changes when logging in and playing from now on including Kassu, Sloty, Casino Joy and Casino Cruise.
Source: “License Suspension and £3.8m Fine for Genesis Global Limited”. Gambling Commission. January 27, 2022.
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