The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has fined online casino firm Casumo £6M for breaching anti-money laundering rules and failing to ensure that players were gambling responsibly.
In one instance, the firm allowed a player to lose £1.1million over three years without implementing responsible gambling measures.
The list of players who the operator failed to approach or contact included one who lost £65,000 in 30 days, one who lost £76,000 in seven months, another who lost £89,000 in a five-hour period, and a player who lost £59,000 in just 90 minutes.
The commission cited clause 3.4.1 of the Social Responsibility Code which states that “Licensees must interact with customers in a way that minimizes the risk of customers being harmed by gambling.”
The commission also noted that some customers were allowed to deposit significant sums without meeting the requirements of basic anti-money laundering rules. These included inadequate ID checks and a failure to verify the source of funds with incomplete bank statements accepted as verification.
In addition to the £6M fine, Casumo has received an official warning and is now required to call in independent auditors to ensure that the firm is fully complying with the terms of their license and codes of conduct (LCCP).
Casumo is also the shirt-sponsor of UK soccer team Reading FC.
Casumo’s current Chief Executive Officer is Shelly Suter-Hadad who was brought on as CEO in January 2020.
Speaking of the fine Richard Watson, executive director of the Gambling Commission, said:
“This case was caused by planned compliance activities and every operator out there should be aware that we will continue to take decisive action against those who fail to raise standards.”
This is the second time in three years that Casumo has been hit with a significant fine. In 2018, the UKGC fined the company £5,850,000 for a similar breach of conditions relating to anti-money laundering and failure to comply with social responsibility code.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.