Lottomart Operator Hit With £360,000 Penalty Over Anti-Money Laundering Failures

Maple International Ventures has been instructed to pay £360,000 to the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) after an investigation uncovered a series of social responsibility and anti-money laundering breaches.

The online gambling company, which runs the popular casino site Lottomart, fell foul after failing to comply with the Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). As part of the settlement, Maple has agreed to pay the amount in full to socially responsible causes which will be outside their usual business activity.

Discussing the fine imposed, John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, 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 [Maple] is now being held to account for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings uncovered during a compliance assessment.”

Damming details revealed in report

According to the UKGC, the report highlighted several occasions between May and June 2024 where Maple didn’t have "appropriate policies and controls” in place to thwart money laundering and terrorist financing. It was noted that the controls for taking action over linked accounts weren’t always effective.

An example of this was where a customer avoided the Licensee’s automated controls by moving around the order of one of their first names. It transpired that the player had two ‘first names’ and a surname. This was discovered the following day after significant deposits and losses had been accrued.

There were times when customers were able to continue making transactions beyond the financial threshold set for undertaking due diligence checks. Potential risks had been overlooked, and Maple was accused of not identifying any underlying issues in their risk assessment.

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Maple failing to read the warning signs

The UKGC had previously issued public statements over similar issues that it had noticed in other operators. However, Maple failed to heed the advice regarding having more robust policies in place.

There were, however, some exacerbating factors at play. One of these was that Maple only started to remedy things after discussions were held with the UKGC during the investigation. Despite that, there were also some mitigating factors to consider, including Maple’s unblemished regulatory history.

During the investigation, Maple fully co-operated and supplied information by the deadline set by the UKGC. The UKGC suggested Maple accepted wrongdoing at an early stage of the investigation.

UKGC tightens up penalty process

Maple hasn't been the only gambling organisation to come up short on compliance measures. Last month, ProgressPlay Limited, which runs 134 websites, was slapped with a £1 million penalty by the UKGC. They were ordered to undergo a third-party audit to ensure they meet proper anti-money laundering and social responsibility requirements.

This was the second time that ProgressPlay was hit with a financial penalty. In 2022, ProgressPlay was forced to pay over £175,000 for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

The UKGC has taken a more stringent approach to enforcement action. A new seven-step process has been adhered to, assessing the gravity of breaches across five levels of seriousness.

In July, Pierce stated the changes to the imposition of financial penalties were designed to “strengthen decision-making” at the UKGC and improve the “efficiency” of their enforcement work. In the meantime, the UKGC has urged operators to review their systems; otherwise any failings in the future could result in hefty financial penalties.