Bookie fined £6m for ‘failing to keep cash from crimes out of gambling’
BOOKMAKER William Hill has been fined £6.2million for ‘systemic social responsibility and laundering failures’.
An investigation by the Gambling Commission included the case of a Scot who defrauded a council of more than £1million to fund his online betting habit.
The probe found that the bookmaker breached anti-money laundering and social responsibility rules.
As a result, ten customers were able to deposit money linked to criminal offences, which saw gains for William Hill of more than £1.2million.
This month it was revealed that the firm paid Dundee City Council an ‘exgratia’ sum of £500,000 after Mark Conway, an IT worker at the authority, carried out a scam involving fake invoices between August 2009 and May 2016.
Last year, Conway was jailed for five years and four months after he admitted defrauding the council of £1,065,085. Only £7,337 of the money, which was lost betting on football matches, was recovered at the time.
But according to a scrutiny committee report, the full financial loss has been recovered through methods including Conway’s pension, the William Hill payment and the council’s insurance policy, with the exception of a £10,000 policy excess.
The gambling watchdog said: ‘We can confirm that Dundee City Council was a victim reimbursed by William Hill Group as part of this penalty package.’
A spokesman for the local authority said: ‘Following the discovery of this crime, Dundee City Council has taken action to prevent a fraud of this type from happening again in the future. An independent review of procedures has already gone ahead and measures have been put in place to strengthen controls.’
It is understood that, on the basis of a verbal conversation, the firm assumed Conway’s income could top £365,000 a year. In reality, it is believed his annual earnings were £30,000.
The gambling watchdog said some of the issues it found included the bookie not adequately seeking information about the source of punters’ funds or establishing whether they were problem gamblers.
It discovered that, between November 2014 and August 2016, senior management failed to mitigate risks and did not have sufficient staff in place to ensure regulations were enforced.
Neil McArthur, executive director of the Gambling Commission, said the watchdog would use the ‘full range’ of enforcement powers to ensure gambling is fairer and safer.
He added: ‘This was a systemic failing at William Hill which went on for nearly two years and today’s penalty package – which could exceed £6.2million – reflects the seriousness of the breaches.
‘Gambling businesses have a responsibility to ensure that they keep crime out of gambling and tackle problem gambling, and as part of that they must be constantly curious about where the money they are taking is coming from.’
Other examples of William Hill’s failures include one customer being allowed to deposit £654,000 over nine months without any checks.
As a result of the investigation, the bookmaker will have to pay more than £5million for breaching regulations and ‘divest’ itself of the £1.2million it earned from transactions with the ten customers. The Gambling Commission said that, where cash used by these customers was obtained through criminal activity, victims will be reimbursed.
William Hill chief executive Philip Bowcock said the firm had introduced ‘new and improved policies and increased levels of resourcing’.
He added: ‘We have also committed to an independent process review and will work to implement any recommendations that emerge from that review. We are fully committed to operating a sustainable business that properly identifies risk and better protects customers.’
‘Systemic failures at William Hill’