Gala handed £2.3m financial penalty for social responsibility failings
Gambling Commission says Gala Interactive failed to "effectively interact” with two VIP customers who gambled around £1.3m of stolen money
Gala Interactive has been hit with a £2.3m financial penalty after a Gambling Commission investigation found it had failed to “effectively interact” with two VIP customers displaying problem gambling behaviour.
The regulator this morning announced it had found “significant flaws” in Gala’s dealings with two high-spending Gala Bingo customers who had gambled approximately £1.3m of stolen money.
One customer, who was imprisoned for four years for stealing from an employer, lost £837,545 over 14 months, while the second customer was also jailed and lost £432,765 over 11 months.
The Gambling Commission said an “aggravating factor” was that it had found Gala Coral in breach of similar failing less than 18 months ago when it forfeited more than £846,000 for shortcomings in its anti-money laundering (AML) controls.
Sarah Harrison, chief executive at the Gambling Commission, said: “We will continue to take robust action where we see operator failures that harm consumers and the wider public.
“It is the responsibility of all operators – particularly key decision makers in those companies – to ensure they are protecting their customers and step in when there is behaviour that might indicate problem gambling.
“This did not happen in this case and the £2.3m penalty package should serve as a warning to other operators.”
Sarah Harrison, CEO of the Gambling Commission. Credit: GamblingCommission.co.uk
The penalty package includes £1m payment to fund research relating to the causes of problem gambling and a payment of £1.3m to the victims of the two customers.
Gala Interactive has also volunteered to pay a further £200,000 to fund research relating to the causes of problem gambling.
In a statement this morning, Ladbrokes Coral CEO, Jim Mullen, said: “In the two cases reviewed with the Commission, it was clear that within our operations, we had not met our own standards or those demanded by the Commission.
“While we will always be exposed to risk of people failing to follow procedures, we accept that, in this case, the failings were evidence of a lack of priority being given to changes in approach identified in earlier engagements.
“Being public with our failings is an uncomfortable experience for any business, but we believe it is right that others can see the extent of our mistakes and try to learn from them.”
The Gambling Commission’s investigation was focused on problem gambling behaviour displayed in 2014 and 2015 – prior to the merger of Ladbrokes and Gala Coral last year.
More details on the Gala Interactive case can be read via the public statement here.
Today’s announcement comes just weeks after 888 was hit with a record financial penalty of more than £7.8m by the Gambling Commission after the regulator identified “serious failings” in the operator’s handling of vulnerable customers.