Gamesys to pay £1.2m to resolve AML, social responsibility failures

Online gambling operator Gamesys has agreed to pay £1.2m to resolve a UK regulatory probe into its social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) shortcomings.

On Wednesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced that Gamesys (Gibraltar) Ltd had agreed to pay £690k in lieu of a financial penalty and to return over £460k to the victims of three individuals who gambled with stolen money on the Jackpotjoy.com site. Gamesys will also pay the costs of the UKGC’s investigation.

The UKGC’s probe focused on three Gamesys customers who gambled with the operator between 2014 and 2016. The trio were the subjects of police investigations but Gamesys failed to conduct the necessary due diligence to determine the source of these customers’ gambling funds or ensure that their transactions were consistent with their risk profile.

The UKGC also found fault with Gamesys’ handling of these high-spending customers’ gambling activity, which the UKGC believes displayed signs of problem gambling behavior that Gamesys failed to address.