UK gambling regulators have hit online bingo operator Stride Gaming with a £7.1m penalty for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failures.

On Tuesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced the £7.1m fine on Daub Alderney, part of the Stride Gaming Group. The fine was nearly twice the sum that Stride said it was putting aside in September following a regulatory review “of the manner in which [Stride] has historically carried on its licensed activities.”

That review determined that Stride had failed to (a) conduct appropriate ongoing monitoring of a business relationship, (b) apply sufficient enhanced customer due diligence measures in certain high-risk situations, (c) keep adequate records of its due diligence checks, (d) establish and maintain appropriate and risk-sensitive policies and procedures, and (e) properly train staff on recognizing and dealing with potentially dodgy customer transactions.

Stride copped to its shortcomings, including failing to conduct the necessary inquiries regarding 742 customers’ source of funds (SOF). Stride subsequently froze 63 of these accounts due to a lack of satisfactory SOF information.