Triplebet hit with GBP 740 K fine as UKGC shares reasons for suspension

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published Tuesday the reasons for suspending the license of online gambling business Triplebet.

Triplebet operated a betting exchange and a remote casino under the trading name ‘Matchbook’. Its operating license was suspended, with immediate effect, on February 17 as part of a package of sanctions for social responsibility and money laundering failings.

The UKGC’s investigation found “serious failings” in Triplebet's approach to anti-money laundering, the monitoring of business relationships and due diligence checks into members of gambling syndicates.  

Serious failings were also found in the operator’s approach to social responsibility, the Commission informed: “In one case a player was able to gamble a large sum of money over the course of two days without any interaction whatsoever.  Another player who registered, played and then self-excluded on the same day was subsequently able to reopen his account six months later.  He then played for 10 hours a day on consecutive days and lost a large sum before self-excluding again, without any monitoring or interaction taking place.”

In addition to the suspension, which will remain in place until Triplebet can prove it has implemented the remedial measures required by the Commission, the operator will pay a £740,000 (USD 911 K) fine.

Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur said: "We have repeatedly made it clear that operators must put player protection at the forefront of their activities and ensure that they have effective anti-money laundering processes in place.  We will not hesitate to use our regulatory powers, including the suspension and revocation of licences if we need to do that to protect consumers and the public from gambling related harm.

“Any operator that doubted that we were ready and willing to use the full range of our regulatory powers should think again. All operators need to learn the lessons from this case and our other enforcement cases.’’

Since January the Commission has suspended the operating licenses of Stakers Limited, Addison Global Limited, and International Multi-Media Entertainments Limited.