£686,070 fine for Corbett Bookmakers Limited

A land-based gambling business will pay a £686,070 penalty after a Gambling Commission investigation revealed social responsibility and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) failings.

Corbett Bookmakers Limited – which operates 36 premises – will also undergo a third-party audit to ensure it is effectively implementing its AML and safer gambling policies, procedures and controls.

The failures were revealed during a two-day Commission compliance assessment.

Social responsibility failures included:

failing to identify a consumer who staked £23,674 in a 13-day period as someone who may be at risk of or experiencing harms associated with gambling
failing to adequately interact with a consumer during a four-hour session in which they placed 56 bets and lost £3,523
failing to adequately interact with a consumer who staked £47,416 and lost £6,741 over a 10-week period.
AML failures included:

customers were able to stake and lose significant sums without the Licensee being in receipt of sufficient Know Your Customer evidence or being able to otherwise verify the source or legitimacy of funds, due to the high financial thresholds in place. In one case, a customer was able to stake approximately £47,000 and lose £14,000 during an 8-month period without the Licensee verifying the legitimacy of the monies accepted from the customer
the Licensee’s money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment failed to consider the full scope of customer, product, geographic and payment risks, and therefore failed to take a sufficiently risk-based approach to anti-money laundering.
The breaches occurred over various periods between February 2022 and May 2024.

John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, said:

“This operator has failed to adhere to vital regulations designed to make gambling safer and free from criminal activity.

“As a result, it will not only pay a significant fine but also undergo a rigorous audit to ensure full compliance with anti-money laundering and safer gambling measures.

“In addition to the remedial actions already taken, we expect the operator to swiftly and fully implement the audit recommendations, demonstrating clear and measurable improvements in both policy and practice. Failure to do so will prompt our compliance team to reassess the situation and take further action as necessary.”

“All operators should carefully consider this case and the price this operator is now paying.”