LeoVegas Fined by UK Gambling Commission £1.3m

After being found guilty of social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures, the Gambling Commission fined LeoVegas £1.3m. The online casino shall be issued an official warning and become subject to an audit, to ensure that the operator is administering the correct protocols as set out by the UK Gambling Commission.

Leanne Oxley, Gambling Commission Director of Enforcement and Intelligence, commented, "We identified the failures of LeoVegas through focused compliance activity. We shall continue to take action against other operators if they do not learn to comply with the rules and regulations set out by the UK Gambling Commission".

A spokesperson from Newcasinosites.me.uk commented. "As operators, we must protect our customers. There is no excuse for unawareness of potential money laundering risks within our businesses. We have a social responsibility to adhere to all the regulations issued by the UK Gambling Commission, or pay the price".

LeoVegas set a 45-minute cool-off period after six hours of play without explaining how they had concluded that playing for six hours was the point at which harm may occur. The lack of explanation by the operator was a social responsibility failure, reported by the UK Gambling Commission.

LeoVegas is also guilty of taking inappropriate controls that allowed high levels of gambling spending to take place within a short time without knowing anything about customers' financial situations.

The anti-money laundering breaches included: the financial triggers for anti-money laundering reviews being too high to manage money laundering or terrorist financing risks. Relying on ineffective threshold triggers and inadequate information regarding how much a customer of LeoVegas should be allowed to spend (based on their income, wealth, or other potential risk factors).

Other Penalties For LeoVegas

2022 isn't the only time that LeoVegas was penalised for advertising and marketing failings. In 2018, the operator was charged for misleading advertising. LeoVegas was also penalised for how customers were treated at the end of their self-exclusion* period.

The operator's license was reviewed, with LeoVegas paying a £600,000 penalty and having to divest itself of any funds received as a direct result of the failings. LeoVegas also had to pay the Commission's costs.

LeoVegas was found to be responsible for 41 misleading adverts and failed to return funds to over 11,000 customers who chose to self-exclude and close their accounts. The operator also sent marketing material to almost 2,000 former customers who have previously self-excluded and allowed 413 previously self-excluded customers to gamble without speaking to them first or applying a 24-hour cooling-off period before allowing them to gamble.

*Self-exclusion is a tool offered by UK online casinos used by customers who feel their gambling habits are getting out of control. They can request that the operator refuse their service to them for some time (no less than six months).

(Disclaimer: Devdiscourse does not promote any kind of gambling activities and urges readers to play responsibly if they choose to do so. Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)