Australian betting platform BetEasy has been fined over AUD$50,000 (€32,346) for allowing a known self-excluded problem gambler to create a new account and lose almost AUD$720,000 (€465,792).
According to an investigation carried out by the Northern Territory Racing Commission, BetEasy staff noticed that the new account shared a residential address with a self-excluded gambler that was known to the platform. Despite this red flag, staff failed to follow up and verify that the new account was not related to the self-excluded gambler.
The investigation also found that the operator failed in its responsibility to its customer by failing to implement the right identity checks. The commission found that BetEasy breached at least two of its licensing conditions and ‘may have’ breached another and did not have the right processes in place to identify problem gamblers.
The gambler in question was a self-excluded customer of CrownBet, BetEasy’s predecessor and was well-known to both BetEasy staff and its affiliates. In fact, the investigation discovered that one of the company’s affiliates by the name of John Dow had made contact with the gambler in January 2019 to help him open a new account under the man’s wife’s name.
Dow also ensured that the gambler received free bets to encourage him to become more active on the platform.
An identity verification check carried out five days after the new account was created satisfied BetEasy staff that the new account belonged to the gambler’s wife despite several questions being answered incorrectly.
The new account saw gambling losses of AUD$719,350 (€465,487).
Following these losses, the gambler and his wife sought recover some of this money from BetEasy and a private settlement was reached in April 2021.
Despite reaching a settlement with the gambler, the commission noted that BetEasy was reluctant to admit any wrongdoing during the investigation or take any responsibility for the actions of its affiliate.
In a report filed by the commission, it noted:
“The commission’s view is that a licensee should accept responsibility for the activities of its affiliate. An unwillingness to do so does not reflect well on a licensee.”
The operator was fined AUD$26,860 (€17,380) for each of the two confirmed breaches of its licensing conditions and the commission referred the case to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.
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.
