SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Danish Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden, has issued a request to 888 Denmark Limited to amend its operator procedures in order to comply with the Danish Anti-Money Laundering Act.
In its investigation, the regulator found that the operator was not adhering to protocols set out under section 25(1) and section 26(1) of the legislation.
The section states that the operator must investigate unusually large transaction patterns and activities which do not have a clearly economic or demonstrable legal purpose, in order to establish whether there is any suspicion or reasonable reason to suspect that these are or have been linked to money laundering.
In its ruling, the Danish Gaming Authority ruled that 888 Denmark should “report to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime, by knowledge, suspicion or reasonable reason to suspect that a transaction, funds or activity is or has been associated with money laundering”.
The ruling continued: “In the specific case, an individual deposited more than DKK 1 million into his gaming account within three months. During that period, 888 Denmark Limited performed various background checks on the player, mainly through open sources on the internet.
“After the player had deposited more than DKK 600,000 into his gaming account within a few days, 888 Denmark Limited also asked the player to submit documentation for his income or assets.
“The player declined to provide any income or asset documentation, and despite this, 888 Denmark Limited allowed the player to continue playing for almost one month before his gaming account was closed. 888 Denmark Limited did not find any reason to report to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime in this regard.”
The regulator emphasised that the operator “should have prevented the player from gambling earlier than was the case” and that the issue should have been reported to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime.
The regulator continued: “Based on this, the Danish Gambling Authority have ordered 888 Denmark Limited to amend its procedures in order to prevent the possibility of money laundering at an earlier stage and to report to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime in similar cases.”
