32Red, a leading British online gambling group licensed in Gibraltar, has been issued a fine of £2 Million by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), for missing a number of opportunities to help a problem gambler and in fact, offering the punter VIP states and free bonuses instead of advice and even enabling money laundering.
The authority also said that 32Red, recently acquired by the Kindred Group, did not do enough to protect a vulnerable customer and failed to carry out proper money laundering checks.
The case was raised on one customer at 32Red who played at the online casino between 2014 and 2017 and was allowed to deposit almost £760,000 without any money laundering controls being in place.
An investigation by the UKGC found that at least 22 incidents were identified showing clearly that the customer was a problem gambler who had even admitted to staff at 32Red that he was chasing losses and felt that he had spent way too much money. It was pointed out that 32Red staff offered the customer free bonuses so that he could continue gambling at the site instead of directing the customer to get help.
Richard Watson, Executive Director of the UK Gambling Commission, commented that instead of checking on the welfare of the customer who was displaying problem gambling behavior, 32Red encouraged him to continue gambling. He added that protecting consumers form gambling-related harm is a priority for them and where they see operators failing in their responsibility to keep their customers safe, they will take tough action.
The Kindred Group has accepted responsibility and said that it recognizes the raised standards required by the UKGC.
