Gambling Commission issues £1m fine to Greentube Alderney over AML failures 

The Gambling Commission (GC) has hit Greentube Alderney Limited, trading as Admiral Casino, with a £1m fine for social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failures. 

A section 116 regulatory review of Greentube was conducted by the GC after a compliance assessment discovered failings in the operator’s AML and social responsibility controls. 

Between September 2022 and June 2023, the firm was found to have breached paragraph three of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), which outlines how all operators must ensure AML procedures are implemented effectively and regularly reviewed and revised if necessary. 

The GC determined that Greentube did not “scrutinise available information upon receipt, or in a timely manner”, which the regulator said led to a delay in the operator identifying potential money laundering and/or terrorist financing. 

In one example, a customer provided a bank statement as proof of address.

However, the statement showed “complex and unusual transactions”, including more than £100,000 being transferred in and out across multiple transactions, as well as a negative closing balance.

The GC said the bank statement was only scrutinised four months after the account was set up and after the customer’s spend met a designated, in-house threshold.

The operator did not always conduct thorough investigations into customer accounts that showed apparent links to additional accounts in a timely fashion, despite the fact that Greentube’s policy does not allow for duplicate accounts.

GC officials saw examples where information regarding potential links between accounts was not analysed until a financial threshold had been triggered, again causing “avoidable delay” if any escalation was required. 

In another instance, investigators noted the address and surname of a person with a previous conviction for the supply of Class A drugs not considered in adequate time. 

Greentube also operates a “risky occupations” policy, where risk factors posed by a person’s job are considered.

However, the GC found examples where the operator failed to show sufficient consideration towards the risk of people who had access to third-party funds which then could have been used to fund the person’s gambling, this included a “finance manager”.

The firm did not always follow its own “recycled winnings” policy that relates to a time period in which the company can accept winnings that have been withdrawn and then redeposited. The policy is in place to monitor potential money laundering risks. 

One example seen by the GC saw Greentube permit a customer to continue depositing funds from different payment methods after a significant win and withdrawal without requesting source of funds information. 

In that instance, more than £70,000 was deposited without the customer being asked for source of funds evidence.

Greentube also failed to adhere to paragraphs one and eight of the Social Responsibility Code Provision (SRCP). 

The commission’s investigation found the business had failed to enforce its own policy on customer limits being linked to regular income, rather than one-off payments.

One customer was able to withdraw “significant winnings” before being allowed to deposit large sums for a period “greatly in excess to that specified in [Greentube’s] policy”.

The regulator added Greentube had failed to ensure documents provided by customers were genuine, despite the fact its staff have received training on how to do so. 

There was also a failure to spot markers of harm, with one user submitting a bank statement as proof of address that showed a negative opening and closing balance, as well as transactions with another gambling operator. 

That information was not reviewed further until the customer in question had deposited £4,000 over the course of four months. 

Elsewhere, while some customers who displayed markers of harm were reviewed, the phone calls from Greentube agents were not performed promptly, allowing further harmful triggers to be hit. 

The penalty marks the second time Greentube has faced action from the GC in four years, the first coming in 2021 when the company was given a £685,000 penalty payment for similar AML and social responsibility failures. 

John Pierce, the GC’s director of enforcement, said: “This case arose from a follow-up compliance assessment designed to ensure the operator had continued to apply lessons learned from previous regulatory action. 

“While we noted that the business had made significant general improvements, further regulatory breaches were still identified. The operator was subsequently required to swiftly put in place an effective action plan designed to remedy all of the identified failings. 

“We want to remind all operators that any business found to breach rules designed to keep gambling safe and free from crime for a second time should expect increasingly stringent enforcement action.

“Any failure to uphold anti-money laundering standards is unacceptable, and today’s action reflects the gravity of the breaches identified.” 

Pierce added that the GC will continue to monitor Greentube to ensure the required regulatory standards are consistently met in the future. 

The £1m fine issued includes a divestment of £22,113, while Greentube will also cover the costs of the investigation as part of the settlement. 

The GC did note that Greentube had fully cooperated and provided information by agreed deadlines, accepted all failings and has since put a plan in place to rectify the errors. 

The post Gambling Commission issues £1m fine to Greentube Alderney over AML failures  first appeared on EGR Intel.

 Admiral Casino parent company slapped with second penalty in four years over near identical anti-money laundering and social responsibility code breaches
The post Gambling Commission issues £1m fine to Greentube Alderney over AML failures  first appeared on EGR Intel.