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Three gambling businesses owned by William Hill Group will pay a total of £19.2 million for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
WHG (International) Limited, which runs williamhill.com, will pay £12.5 million, Mr Green Limited, which runs mrgreen.com, will pay £3.7 million, and William Hill Organization Limited, which operates 1,344 gambling premises across Britain, will pay £3 million.
“When we launched this investigation, the failings we uncovered were so widespread and alarming serious consideration was given to license suspension,” Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive, said. “However, because the operator immediately recognized their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history.”
The action comes just a week after the Commission fined two operators owned by Kindred Group plc a combined £7.2 million and is the most significant enforcement case taken on by the regulator. The previous largest was £17 million action taken against Entain in August last year.
Since the start of 2022, the Commission has concluded 26 enforcement cases with operators paying over £76 million because of regulatory failures.
The misconduct of William Hill Group was widespread.
One customer was allowed to open a new account and spend £23,000 in 20 minutes without any checks. Another customer was allowed to open an account and spend £18,000 in 24 hours without any checks. Another was allowed to open a new account and spend £32,500 over two days without any checks.
Another gambler was allowed to immediately place a £100,000 bet when his credit limit had been set at £70,000. Another lost £14,902 in 70 minutes. One customer opened his account and lost £11,400 over the first 30 days without being subject to sufficient checks, and another customer did not have a telephone interaction until losses reached £45,800
Furthermore, hundreds of self-excluded gamblers were able to continue gambling.
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