Ladbrokes Coral hit with £5.9m penalty for ‘systemic failings’

Ladbrokes Coral Group is being hit with a £5.9 million penalty package for “systemic failings” in its antimoney laundering and social responsibility safeguards.

The Gambling Commission said consumers had been harmed and stolen money had “flowed through the business” due to “unacceptable” shortcomings.

A commission investigation between November 2014 and October 2017 found Ladbrokes and Coral failed to put in place effective safeguards to prevent money laundering and consumers suffering gambling harm, with this failing continuing after their merger as the Ladbrokes Coral Group.

The commission said that as part of the settlement the Ladbrokes Coral Group’s new owners GVC will pay £4.8m in lieu of a financial penalty and will divest £1.1m gained from customers as a result of its failings.

GVC will also review the top 50 customers for the years 2015-17 to consider whether any further failings can be identified.

The commission said GVC had committed to overhauling its responsible gaming and customer interaction processes, retraining staff and hiring new staff.

GVC chief executive Kenneth Alexander said: “Soon after the acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral following meetings and ongoing enquiries by the Gambling Commission, it became clear to GVC that there had been historic compliance failures within certain areas of the operations.

“Working closely with the Gambling Commission and an independent firm of solicitors, GVC facilitated a thorough, prompt and far-reaching investigation, which has led to today’s settlement.”

He added: “I am confident that we now have in place a robust and industry-leading approach to player protection. More broadly, GVC is determined to take the lead in the critical area of responsible gambling, and is taking decisive, tangible action across a range of initiatives.”

The £5.9m penalty is one of the biggest imposed by the gambling watchdog.