Australia's financial crimes regulator is suing Entain, the UK owner of two popular gambling sites, in the Federal Court. This is after opening an “enforcement investigation” into the multinational gambling operator in September 2022.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has launched civil legal action against bookies Ladbrokes and Neds for non-compliance with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
Pending court action in Australia follows similar claims by Britain’s Gambling Commission. These claims cost Entain $29 million for similar breaches late in 2022 - which did little to convince the State Government of Western Australia it was a credible acquirer of a TAB licence.
It’s understood civil proceedings by AUSTRAC relate to an alleged failure by the London-listed company to A) develop and maintain a compliant anti-money laundering program and B) identify and assess the risks it faced.
According to an AUSTRAC statement, Entain had neither proper oversight of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism program nor controls in place to confirm the identity of customers making deposits. In addition to not conducting appropriate checks on 17 high-risk customers, AUSTRAC also alleges that Entain deliberately masked some identities through use of aliases.
The regulator also alleges that third parties, including businesses and individuals, accepted cash and other deposits on behalf of Entain to be credited into betting accounts. This was done in ways that could obscure crime proceeds.
“We are alleging this left the company at serious risk of criminal exploitation,” said AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas.
“Money laundering is often a symptom of serious criminal activity, including fraud, scams and corruption, all of which have equally serious effects on our communities.”
While Entain claims to have cooperated fully with AUSTRAC’s investigation, chief executive Gavin Isaacs admitted that further improvements still need to be implemented in line with the plans it communicated to the regulator in 2023.
Entain is by no means the only betting company to fall foul of the regulator, with casino operator Crown and Tabcorp incurring hefty fines as far back as 2017. The maximum penalty for a single breach of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism act is $22.2 million.
While AUSTRAC has also been eyeing the activities of rival bookmakers Sportsbet and Bet365 for some time, both companies have committed to audits to investigate, and where necessary, implement remedial action to improve their anti-money laundering programs.