Admiral Casino Operator Fined £1m By UKGC
A money laundering investigation by the Gambling Commission has told Greentube to pay £1 million in fines.
Key Facts:
- Greentube Alderney Limited has been trading as Admiral Casino in the UK
- UKGC found a range of social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures
- The casino operator has faced regulatory action before, back in 2021
- Greentube will pay the money to socially responsible causes
Greentube Alderney Limited, trading as Admiral Casino, was found by the regulatory body to have social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
The company has faced regulatory action from the Gambling Commission before, so this is the second time that Admiral Casino has been in hot water.
Back in 2021, the operator was ordered to pay a total of £685,000 after an investigation found other social responsibility and money laundering failures.
Policy Failings Uncovered
According to the Gambling Commission, Greentube did not follow its own policy to ensure customer limits were based on regular, sustainable income instead of one-off or irregular forms of income.
It said it was also failing to check Admiral Casino customers’ documents properly as well.
Among the anti-money laundering failures found by the Gambling Commission were Greentube failing to carry out required checks in a timely manner.
One customer was revealed to have given the operator a bank statement that showed a range of complex and unusual transactions.
This included more than £100,000 being transferred in and out of the account and a negative closing balance, but Greentube did not follow up on the user for four months.
A casino customer who worked as a finance manager and therefore may have had access to funds which could be misappropriated and laundered did not have that information built into their risk profile by the operator.
Follow-up Compliance Assessment
Greentube’s previous fine meant that the Gambling Commission was keeping a close eye on the company, as the body’s director of enforcement, John Pierce, explained.
He said: “While we noted that the business had made significant general improvements, further regulatory breaches were still identified. The operator was subsequently required to swiftly put in place an effective action plan designed to remedy all of the identified failings.”
Pierce added that “any failure to uphold anti-money laundering standards is unacceptable” and reminded gambling companies of their responsibilities in this area.
He said: “We will continue to monitor this operator to ensure they consistently meet the required regulatory standards.”
