British Gambling Commission fines Maple International over responsibility and AML failures
The regulator identified a series of breaches at Lottomart.com.
UK.- The Gambling Commission has announced that the online gambling business Maple International Ventures Limited is to pay a £360,000 settlement after an investigation revealed social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. The operator runs the casino and betting website Lottomart.com.
The regulator said it found that Maple International Ventures’ risk assessment was not appropriate between June 2023 and July 2024. Some key risks were omitted, including the risk of organised crime gangs and mule accounts, and it was lacking in sufficient detail. In addition, there was no evidence that it had been updated to take into account current or historical versions of the regulator’s guidance, the Gambling Commission said.
It was also found that controls for detecting and taking action regarding duplicate and linked accounts were not always effective. One customer was able to evade the automated controls by switching the order of one of their first names and their surname. The account was only identified the following day after significant deposits and losses had been made.
Meanwhile, it found that between May and October 2024, there were examples of a time delay between a money laundering risk being identified and action being taken, which meant customers could transact beyond some intended thresholds. For example, customers whose identities had not been fully verified were able to continue transacting beyond the financial threshold that had been set for Customer Due Diligence checks.
Although Maple International Ventures Limited was aware of this and was working to remedy it by the time the regulator’s assessment began, an effective fix was only implemented after discussions held during the assessment
At the same time, the controls for identifying potential harms were inadequate in relation to ‘binges’, ‘spikes’, overnight play and large wins which are followed by high-staking.
All of the £360,000 settlement will go to socially responsible causes, the Gambling Commission said. As an aggravating factor, it noted that it had previously issued public statements regarding similar issues at other operators. However, it also took into consideration Maple’s “unblemished regulatory history”, its full cooperation, early acceptance of the findings and swift action plan to remedy the failings.
Director of enforcement John Pierce said: “The cornerstone of every licensed business must be the proper implementation of effective policies and procedures aimed at making gambling crime free and safer.
“This operator is now being held to account for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings uncovered during a compliance assessment. We would advise all operators to read the Maple International Ventures public statement and consider whether their own policies and procedures are both effective and are being successfully implemented.”
New deposit rules
From October 31, new Gambling Commission rules will come into force requiring licensed operators to prompt customers to set a financial limit before they make their first deposit and to make it easy to review and alter the limit at any point after. The Gambling Commission noted that some operators already do this and that making it mandatory will expand on their good practice to offer the same standards across the industry.
Operators will also be required to remind consumers every six months to review their account and transaction information. The idea is that this will help consumers consider if they want to change existing, or set new, deposit limits.
