Wednesday April 27,2016 : GALA CORAL IN THE HOT SEAT
Anti-money laundering failings result in GBP 880 000 settlement figure.
The UK Gambling Commission has taken Anti-Money Laundering (AML) failings at Gala Coral Group to task, calling on other gambling operators to learn lessons from its investigations into Gala Coral’s processes.
Gala Coral Group Ltd agreed to forfeit over GBP 846,000 and take steps to improve its anti-money laundering and social responsibility processes following the Commissions investigation into the way Coral Racing Limited and Gala Interactive handled its relationship with a customer between 2012 and 2015.
The man was jailed for three years after admitting to stealing from a vulnerable adult to fund his gambling at the retail and online gambling firm.
Under the agreement with the UK Gambling Commission, Gala Coral will pay GBP 846,600 to the man’s victim as this was the total amount the man lost through gambling with the operator.
“We expect the industry will learn the lessons from this case, as it is their responsibility to keep crime out of gambling and protect vulnerable people from harm,” Richard Watson, programme director at the Commission, said.
“We know that Gala Coral have reflected heavily on this case and have assured us of actions they have taken to address the failings. Operators must proactively monitor customers to keep gambling safe and free from crime”.
The remaining amount of around GBP 30,000 will be paid to the Commission to fund its investigation.
Readers will recall a similar ruling against Paddy Power earlier this year where the company entered into a settlement agreement with the Commission amounting to GBP 280,000 as a penalty for “encouraging” a problem gambler