{"id":1385,"date":"2017-07-03T14:55:50","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T12:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/?p=1385"},"modified":"2018-11-15T18:27:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T17:27:27","slug":"top-10-infamous-igaming-compliance-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/top-10-infamous-igaming-compliance-sanctions\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Infamous iGaming Compliance Sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Million $ fines, license withdrawals and even prison sentences \u2013 the cost of non-compliance for <\/strong>iGaming companies and individuals can be eye-watering. We profile 10 of the most eye-watering penalties in recent history.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gambling is one of the\u00a0world\u2019s most heavily regulated\u00a0<\/strong>business activities. Laws, regulatory authorities and compliance requirements vary by jurisdiction, ranging from outright bans to \u2018relaxed but highly attentive\u2019. Our\u00a0suite of compliance courses<\/a>\u00a0help iGaming operators and suppliers remain on the right side of regulators.<\/p>\n

Achieving compliance isn\u2019t just good practice \u2013 it\u2019s also an extremely\u00a0prudent investment<\/strong>. Avoiding your responsibilities leaves your business AND yourself exposed to risk of significant sanctions, not to mention highly-damaging PR.<\/p>\n

Here are 10 examples of how non-compliance can be severely punished, from\u00a0multi-million dollar fines<\/strong>\u00a0to \u2013 at the most extreme \u2013\u00a0prison sentences<\/strong>\u00a0for those complicit and in leadership roles.<\/p>\n

1 \u2013 \u201cBlack Friday\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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$5,000,000+ & Prison Sentences \u2013 Multiple Poker Operators \u2013 USA, 2006<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In what have known to become the Black Friday Indictments, a crackdown of online real money gambling games in 2006 by American congress saw the indictment of 11 serving employees of online platforms Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars. A\u00a03 -year prison sentence and $5 million Million dollar fine<\/a>\u00a0was handed down to Ira Rubin for processing payments whilst Absolute Poker\u2019s Brent Buckley received a leaner\u00a014 months<\/a>\u00a0for his involvement. Pokerstars\u2019 payments director Paul Tate escaped a prison term by\u00a0forfeiting $119,000<\/a>\u00a0accrued.<\/p>\n

2 \u2013 Paddy Power AML \u2018Know Your Customer\u2019 Failures<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\u00a3310,000 Fines + Penalties \u2013 Paddy Power, 2016<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The luck certainly wasn\u2019t with the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power when the UK gaming commission (UKGC)\u00a0imposed over \u00a3300,000 in fines<\/a>, citing a number of malpractices. The bookmaker failed to carry out proportionate KYC checks into 2 high value clients, who were later to of found to be funding their addiction through being overworked (one was working 5 jobs!) They also neglected their duty in adequately investigating AML suspicions brought about by a branch manager involving the disproportionate use of Scottish tender.<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Bet365 Deceptive Advertising<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Online operator guilty of false \u2018free bet\u2019 offers<\/p><\/div>\n

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AUS$2,750,000 \u2013 Bet365, 2016<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bet 365 weren\u2019t experiencing a g\u2019day with their Australian operation in 2016 when they were subject to a\u00a0$2.75 million fine<\/a>\u00a0handed out to them by the Australian Competitions and Consumer Commission, under whose jurisdiction they fell, for deceptive and misleading advertising. The Stoke-based company promoted \u2018Free Bets\u2019 to entice new players to their site when in reality members were first obliged to gamble $200 dollars of private funds.<\/p>\n

4 \u2013 PokerStars\u2019 5 Years Of Illegal Operation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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$870,000,000 \u2013 Amaya \/ PokerStars, 2015<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A Kentucky judge imposed an eye-watering $870 million fine on parent company Amaya, citing its subsidiary PokerStars\u2019 illegal practices between October 2006 and April 2011. Under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act the court found the gaming operator guilty of providing gambling services to 34,000 players which had grossed an estimated revenue of $18 million.<\/p>\n

5 \u2013 The Wrong Numbers: Lottery Faux Pas<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\u00a3300,000 Fine \u2013 Camelot \/ National Lottery, 2015<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Camelot fell afoul of the UKGC regulator in 2015 for posting the incorrect lottery results on its website. The wrong result was published for an hour and viewed more than 100,000 times. The indiscretion, which cost the company \u00a3300k in fines, was deemed to have breached the terms of its operating licence according to the UKGC.<\/p>\n

6 \u2013 (Not So) FreeLotto.com<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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PlasmaNet’s ad campaign was a classic bait-and-switch scheme<\/p><\/div>\n

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$1,500,000 Settlement \u2013 Plasmanet \/ FreeLotto, 2010<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Promotional techniques of Plasmanet were brought to bear between 2006 and 2007 when the New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo ruled in the favour of consumers who inadvertently purchased Freelotto.com FAST service which subscribed them to a \u2018not nearly as free as it sounded\u2019\u00a0$14.99 per month charge<\/a>. A 1.5-million-dollar settlement was reached to compensate for practices which Cuomo would describe as \u2018deceptive and misleading.\u2019<\/p>\n

7 \u2013 Coral Accept Stolen Funds<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\u00a3880,000 Fine + Procedural Review \u2013 Coral UK, 2016<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Coral were found liable for a fine and costs by the UKGC for failing to determine the source of income for one of their high value customers who gambled away \u00a3800 thousand pounds in stolen funds. Although investigations were initiated they were not considered robust enough and an immediate review of procedures were ordered, along with a\u00a0\u00a3880k fine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8 \u2013 Self-Excluded Advertising by Caesars<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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$10,000 Fine \u2013 Caesars New Jersey, 2014<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Caesars Entertainment were caught short in New Jersey when they failed to comply with state legislation which states that promotional material cannot be targeted towards players who have signed up to their \u2018online exclusion\u2019 list. In an effort to help self-confessed problem gamblers, the exclusion list was introduced in 2013. Between the 16 Feb and 28 May 2014, though, 250 people who signed up were still sent marketing material. A\u00a0fine of $10,000<\/a>\u00a0was subsequently handed down by The New Jersey division of gaming.<\/p>\n

9 \u2013 Western Union Processes Illicit Gaming Payments<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Western Union failed to maintain an effective AML program<\/p><\/div>\n

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$586,000,000 Federal Penalty \u2013 Western Union, 2017<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The U.S. federal government sanctioned a fine of $586 million on financial services behemoth Western Union for consistent failings in its AML safeguards. The tip of the iceberg came when payments were found to have been processed to illicit internet gaming companies in Costa Rica.<\/p>\n

10 \u2013 Ladbrokes Entice Australian Public To Gamble<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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AUS$85,000 Fine \u2013 Ladbrokes, 2017<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Repeat infringers Ladbrokes\u00a0upset the authorities once again<\/a>\u00a0by enticing the public to gamble by means of their marketing activities, a practice which is prohibited in Australia. A fine totalling AUS$85,000 was handed down to them due to promotions put out on their website, as well as Youtube and in the Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\n

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Protect Yourself\u00a0Against Compliance Sanctions<\/h3>\n

iGaming Academy\u2019s suite of regulator-recognised compliance courses cover Responsible Gambling, Anti-Money Laundering, Payments Fraud and more.\u00a0View our courses<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0enquire today<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Million $ fines, license withdrawals and even prison sentences \u2013 the cost of non-compliance for iGaming companies and individuals can be eye-watering. We profile 10 of the most eye-watering penalties…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-update"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}