The online casino operator Mr Green faced criticism for lack of due diligence. A few days ago, Spillemyndigheden warned the William Hill-owned company for breaching the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) rules in sections 10(1) and 11(1)(5) of the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Act. The gambling regulatory body also shared that the online casino operator violated the rules obliging it to start an investigation under section 25 of the AML Act.
Denmark’s Gambling Authority found that Mr Green failed to properly analyze one of its customers’ source of funds.
The online casino company received the warning because it has allowed a young player, whose name and age were not unveiled, to deposit approximately DKK325,000 in his account in a 12-month period without getting enough information about the source of funds of that customer and make sure the money did not originate from criminal activities. In other words, the Danish Gambling Authority found that Mr Green has failed to comply with the provisions regarding precautions against money laundering.
The company, however, said it carried out a check into the customer’s source of funds by searching him on the Internet, finding information about their employment and making an assessment of their immediate level of earnings. At the time, Mr Green concluded that the analyzed data was enough to prove there was nothing suspicious about the customer and his source of funding, so it stopped searching for more details on the matter.
This, however, was not found satisfactory by the Danish Gambling Authority, as it insisted that the online betting company should have taken the investigation into the customer further in order to determine his source of funds with absolute certainty.
Mr Green Failed to Guarantee the Expected Diligence of the Know-Your-Customer Rules, Danish Gambling Authority Says
As mentioned above, Spillemyndigheden noted that the research held by Mr Green into the customer and his source of funding was not sufficient. Furthermore, the regulatory body found that the online gambling company made a mistake, as it performed an investigation on its own and proved that the customer’s actual job and income did not correspond to the ones found by the William Hill-owned company.
According to the new information unveiled by Denmark’s Gambling Authority, the actual disposable income of the player in question was smaller than the deposits made by them in their account with Mr Green. That is why the regulator issued a warning to the online gambling company for its violation of the Money Laundering Act, as the operator was found to have not done enough to make sure it was in line with the anti-money laundering provisions.
Despite the violation, the regulatory body preferred not to impose any sort of monetary fines or stricter regulatory action against the company. Even so, the Danish Gambling Authority insisted that the online gambling operator is more careful in the future and make sure other mistakes like that will be avoided.
Spillemyndigheden noted that the Know-Your-Customer rules and the gambling companies’ obligation to investigate their customers’ sources of funds, are important parts of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of the country. The regulator emphasized the fact that any more offenses and other failures to comply with the gambling regulations of the country will bring sanctions to Mr Green, and more serious cases, if any, may be referred to the police.
