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Caesars Ent fined £13m for ‘serious, systematic failings’

While the world is undergoing a severe health crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic, casino operator Caesars Entertainment was asked to pay £13 million penalty for failures regarding social responsibility and money laundering, including with VIP customers.

The UK Gambling Commission has ordered Caesars to pay fines for eight offenses that the regulator has found. The commission said it had found “serious systematic failings” at the business, which operates 11 casinos across Britain. It singled out the way VIP customers were treated between January 2016 and December 2018. The sanction marks the second time in less than three weeks that the regulator has handed out a record penalty, after Betway was forced to pay out £11.6m in March.

One customer lost £240k over a 13-month period, while another £323k in a 12-month period had displayed “signs of problem gambling” including spending more than five hours in a casino on 30 occasions. Another self-employed nanny lost £18,000 in a year and had admitted to sourcing funds from family and an overdraft facility. Lastly, a retired postman lost £15,000 in 44 days.

It also failed to properly check where the fund from big spenders came from, one customer who wagered £3.5m and lost £1.6m in three months, and another politically exposed person who lost £795,000 in just over a year. One customer who wagered £3.5m and lost £1.6m in three months, and another politically exposed person who lost £795,000 in just over a year.

“We have published this case at this time because it’s vitally important that the lessons are factored into the work the industry is currently doing to address poor practices of VIP management in which we must see rapid progress made,” said Neil McArthur, Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission. “The failings in this case are extremely serious. A culture of putting customer safety at the heart of business decisions should be set from the very top of every company and Caesars failed to do this. We will now continue to investigate the individual licence holders involved with the decisions taken in this case.”

Past penalties from the Gambling Commission include £7.8m for 888 in 2017, a £7.1m fine for Daub Alderney in 2018, £6.2 million for William Hill in 2018 and £5.9m for Ladbrokes Coral Group in 2019. So far in 2020, the commission suspended the operating licences of three business.

Susan Carletta, Caesars’ Chief Regulatory and Compliance officer said, “Caesars Entertainment UK acknowledges falling short of its standards and accepts the settlement reached with the British Gambling Commission.” For more updates gaming industry around the world, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com and stay tuned!

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