UK Gambling Commission concludes AML failings review
Summary
The UK Gambling Commission has reached a settlement with Maple International Ventures, operator of Lottomart.com, following a review that uncovered shortcomings in anti-money laundering (AML) controls and social responsibility measures. Maple will pay £360,000 to socially responsible causes as part of the settlement after the Commission found failures against the Licence Condition and Social Responsibility Code Provision (SRCP).
The Commission’s assessment highlighted a range of issues: inadequate policies and procedures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing; weak detection of harmful play patterns (such as binges, spikes and overnight sessions); a customer who bypassed duplicate-account controls by swapping first-name order; and delays between identification of AML risk and effective action. The operator has an otherwise clean regulatory record and implemented a remediation plan swiftly during the review.
Key Points
- Maple International Ventures (Lottomart.com) agreed to a £360,000 settlement paid to socially responsible causes for AML and social-responsibility failures.
- The UKGC found deficiencies in AML policies, customer due diligence and controls to identify harmful play patterns.
- Specific failings included an exploited duplicate-account check and delays in acting after AML risks were detected.
- The operator implemented fixes only after the regulator’s assessment highlighted that customers could exceed thresholds for full due diligence.
- Commission Director of Enforcement John Pierce emphasised that licensed operators must implement effective, crime-free and safer gambling safeguards.
- The case arrives amid wider concern: the UK National Risk Assessment 2025 raised the money-laundering risk for remote casinos to ‘medium’ after remote slot revenue rose 52% to £3.6bn since 2020.
Context and relevance
This settlement is a timely reminder that regulators are intensifying scrutiny of remote casino AML controls as online slot activity grows. The UK Government’s 2025 National Risk Assessment flagged increased transaction volumes and non-face-to-face relationships as raising money-laundering risk — a backdrop that makes enforcement actions like this more likely and more consequential for operators.
Operators and compliance teams should treat the examples cited by the UKGC as practical red flags: weaknesses in automated checks, slow escalation processes and incomplete customer verification can quickly become regulatory liabilities. Even firms with clean histories can face substantial remediation costs and reputational damage if controls are found wanting.
Why should I read this?
Short version: if you run, audit or supply tech to online casinos, this is your compliance heads-up. The regulator just showed it will take money from the industry coffers and point out glaring gaps in AML and safer-gambling tech and processes. We’ve read the details so you can spot the bits you need to fix — before the UKGC finds them for you.
Author note
Punchy take: regulators aren’t just nudging any more — they’re enforcing. If your thresholds, verification timing or duplicate-detection logic can be gamed, you need to act fast.
Source
Source: https://igamingexpert.com/regions/europe/uk-gambling-commission-settlement-aml-failings/