Australia’s financial watchdog has commenced proceedings against Entain, the global sports betting group behind local brands Ladbrokes and Neds, alleging serious and systemic non-compliance with the nation’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
The financial watchdog also alleges that Entain failed to conduct appropriate checks on 17 higher risk customers and “deliberately obscured the identity of some high-risk customers, on its own systems, through the use of pseudonyms to ‘protect their privacy’“. AUSTRAC’s Thomas said it is the first time it has brought civil penalty proceedings against businesses operating in the online betting sector, but it has also commenced an investigation intoThe regulator’s case also alleged that because Entain operated a 24/7 business through its website and app, there was a risk that people “unknown to Entain could access and use Entain’s betting platform including through third-party providers”.