21.022018

William Hill Fined for Money Laundering

William Hill fined $6.2 million by gambling commission for not spotting gambling problems and money laundering. It is the second largest fine ever charged by the regulators and the biggest due to money laundering. 

Huge Sums of Money Deposited

The commission stated that ten clients were permitted to deposit huge sums of funds linked to illegal activities. The commission added that Hill didn’t seek info about the origin of the money or find out whether they were quandary gamblers.

The regulators stated that top management at William Hill did not mitigate risks and employ the right number of employees to make sure that their social responsibility and anti-money laundering processes were efficient.

Neil McArthur, the Gambling Commission executive director, said, “This was a total failure at Hill which continued for almost 2 years and today’s fine reflects the gravity of the breaches.”

He added that “Gambling firms have a duty to ensure that they prevent crime and address gambling problems, and as a protection measure they need to be curious about where the fund they are collecting is originating from.”

Failures Took Place between 2014 – 2016

The commission identified the breach taking place from November 2014 to August 2016.

On one instance, a client who was funding his account by stealing money from his employer was permitted to deposit $541K over 14 months.  

The operator had assumed, after talking to the client, that he was earning over $365K a year when he actually earned 360K per year.

On another situation, a client deposited $653K over a period of 1½-year, during which he activated an “amber risk” signal which should have raised a red flag and seen his file taken to the manager for evaluation.

William Hill will cough out a fine of $5M and return $1.2M, an amount he received via the rule breaches.