UKGC Slaps Greentube Alderney Limited with a £1m Fine for AML Failures

Online gambling operator Greentube Alderney Limited, trading as Admiral Casino, will pay a £1 million ($1.2 million) fine after the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) uncovered social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

The Commission issued the fine after an investigation from September 2022 to June 2023 revealed issues with the operator’s customer checks, anti-money laundering measures, and gambling vulnerability detection measures. The operator will pay the amount to socially responsible causes as part of a settlement agreement with the UKGC.

Inadequate Social Responsibility Policies

According to the UKGC, Greentube did not fully apply its own policy to ensure documents provided during KYC verification checks were genuine and that customer spending limits were based on sustainable income.

In one instance, a customer offered a bank statement displaying a negative opening and closing balance and other gambling transactions during verification. The issue was not reviewed or reported until the player was £4,000 and four months in.

Anti-Money Laundering Failures

Greentube also fell short of its AML obligations for not constantly auditing reports in time, causing delays in the possible identification and handling of money laundering risks. In one case, a customer provided a bank statement with complex transactions, including over £100,000 in unusual transfers. Despite the red flags, the issue was only scrutinized and reported four months later.

The operator was also accused of not flagging “risky occupations”. In one instance, a ‘finance manager’ was not monitored despite having access to funds that could be misused or laundered.

The UKGC also penalized Greentube for not thoroughly investigating and reporting accounts with suspicious links, leading to delays in mitigating AML risks. In one example, the operator ignored investigating an account with the same address and surname as a blocked account linked to a customer with drug supply convictions.

Not the First Rodeo

This is the second time the UKGC has hit Greentube with similar regulatory action. The operator was penalized £685,000 in 2021 for social responsibility and AML failures. UKGC Director of Enforcement John Pierce revealed that this case arose from a follow-up compliance assessment to determine whether the company applied the recommended measures from previous regulatory action.

“While we noted that the business had made significant general improvements, further regulatory breaches were still identified. The operator was subsequently required to swiftly put in place an effective action plan designed to remedy all of the identified failings,” Pierce explained.