The UK Gambling Commission has announced a regulatory settlement of £2m will be paid by Videoslots Limited for social responsibility and anti-money laundering offences.
Videoslots, which operates videoslots.com, videoslots.co.uk and mrvegas.com, failed to comply with certain UKGC licence conditions and codes of practice between October 2019 and February 2022.
The commission noted that one of the operator’s social responsibility failures included failing to identify customers displaying risk behaviours as potentially experiencing harm because responsible gambling reviews were not performed quickly enough, or as well as they should have been.
Videoslots also failed to spot if a customer was at risk of experiencing harm by not considering if the amount customers were depositing or losing was appropriate. One customer had a self-declared income of between £60,000-£80,000, savings of between £20,000-£50,000 and was able to deposit and lose £98,000 within six months.
The operator also allowed customers showing gambling harm behaviours to keep gambling “significant amounts” despite their behaviour continuing.
One customer deposited £112,225 and lost £58,725 between 21 November 2021 and 7 January 2022, activating several triggers during the timeframe such as gambling for long periods, gambling in the early hours and losses exceeding thresholds based on declared source of wealth.
The UKGC added: “As a result of the triggers the Licensee completed three account reviews (one being as a result of the customer being a top winner) and sent an automated email. However, for this customer an account review was missed on 8 December 2021 and delayed on 29 December 2021.
“The operator’s approach to interactions set out in their responsible gambling policy and procedures was not implemented as it should have been. The customer not amending their behaviour demonstrates that the interactions, as a result, were not effective in minimising the risk of harm.”
In regards to AML failures, the UKGC stated that Videoslots did not implement its risk-based processes appropriately due to significant delays following a trigger in its processes “in conducting the required action, such as an AML review or request for source of funds”.
Other AML failures by the operator included failing to fulfil customer due diligence elements quickly enough per its own risk-based approach, as well as not having “sufficient AML analysts” to process data or undertake AML account reviews per its procedures.
Videoslots accepted that “there were significant weaknesses in its ability to implement its policies and procedures for AML and safer gambling purposes” and the operator will pay the money as part of a settlement with the UKGC.
A £2m regulatory settlement package has been agreed upon, consisting of a payment in lieu of a financial penalty of £1,505,158.02 which will be directed towards socially responsible causes, a divestment of £494,841.98, an agreement to the publication of a statement of facts by the commission, and a payment of £11,308 towards investigative costs.
The commission has handed out several financial penalties to the UK gambling industry since the beginning of the year, including to William Hill Group, Kindred, Paddy Power Betfair, TGP Europe, SkillOnNet, 10bet, Intouch Games, TonyBet and Vivaro.
