UK bookmaker and online gambling operator William Hill has been fined £6.2m (€7m or $8.6m) by the UK Gambling Commission for falling short on money laundering checks and not meeting social responsibility regulations.
An investigation by The Commission found that 10 customers of William Hill were able to deposit large sums of money that were linked to criminal offenses. The gambling company was about to gain £1.2m in profits from these transactions.
William Hill have been accused of not carrying out adequate checks to ensure vulnerable and problem gamblers were protected.
In one particular example a customer earning about £30,000 a year, was able to gamble £541,000 over the course of 14 months with no investigation into how he was funding his account. The customer had been stealing money from an employer to fund his account according to The Commission.
William Hill has said it has since changed its policies and invested in anti-money laundering systems at the company.
“We are fully committed to operating a sustainable business that properly identifies risk and better protects customers,” Chief Executive Philip Bowcock said.
“We will continue to assist the commission and work with other operators to improve practices in the areas identified.”
Part of the fine will be used to return stolen money to the victims identified and a donation will be made to charity.
Another UK gambling company 888 Holdings was fined a record £7.8m for not handling self excluded account properly.