Betfred to pay £800,000 after UKGC licence review

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has announced that Betfred is to pay over £800,000 (€1 million/1$1.1 million) in compensation and in contribution towards socially responsible causes as part of a regulatory settlement following a licence review by the organisation. The investigation began after the conclusion of a court case in which a Betfred customer was jailed for three years and four months after admitting to stealing from his employer, with a significant proportion of the stolen money spent with the bookmaker. In its findings, the UKGC said the operator made ‘failures’ in its anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies. As part of the settlement agreement, £443,000 will be paid to the victims of the criminal activities, while a further £344,500 will be paid, in lieu of a financial penalty, to socially responsible causes, agreed with the UKGC. Betfred has also agreed to meet the UKGC’s investigation costs. In addition, Betfred must now conduct an independent third-party review and audit of its anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies and procedures. The review will include customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence and on-going monitoring practices. Richard Watson, programme director at the UKGC, said: “We identified a number of weaknesses in the anti-money laundering and social responsibility controls used by Betfred. “The Commission has now concluded a wide range of cases over the last 10 months leading to around £3.75million in penalty packages. “The outcomes and findings in these cases provide a clear signal to operators of the need to learn the lessons from these for social responsibility and money laundering controls, or risk facing tougher sanctions.” Related article: GVC brokers long-term licensing deal with Betfred