SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The full extent of Austrac’s investigation into money laundering failures of Entain’s Australian business have been laid bare according to local media.
Austrac, Australia’s financial markets watchdog, has drafted a 640 page report accusing the firm of non-compliance over many years, as reported by the Australian Financial Review, which appears to have seen the report.
It is important to note that the company has not been accused of directly participating in criminal activity. Rather, Austrac believes that the firm has not been carrying out required due diligence to a high enough standard, allowing potential instances of money laundering to occur.
One notable accusation is that Entain knew that a high-spending customer was an associate of an international wanted drug trafficker. This customer was able to spend over AUS$1m with the bookmaker within one year, either through one or both of its Australia-facing brands, Ladbrokes Australia or Neds.
Austrac’s investigation could spell further regulatory trouble for Entain, coming after controversies in the UK which saw the firm handed a then-record penalty for AML and social responsibility failures in 2022.
Responding to reports, Entain states that it is committed to fighting financial crime in betting.
“We are taking these allegations extremely seriously and continue to fully cooperate with Austrac,” said Stella David, CEO of Entain.
“We are committed to keeping financial crime out of gambling and continue to play our part in supporting a well-regulated and compliant sector for our customers, stakeholders and the wider community.”
AUSTRAC first opened its investigation into Entain in December 2024, accusing the firm’s leadership of failing to properly oversee its AML and counter-terrorist finance programme.
It was also accused of lacking the right controls to confirm customer identity, did not conduct necessary checks on 17 high risk customers and of using third parties on its behalf which accepted deposits into accounts which could have obscured criminal proceeds.
“AUSTRAC’s proceedings allege that Entain did not develop and maintain a compliant anti-money laundering program and failed to identify and assess the risks it faced,” AUSTRAC CEO, Brendan Thomas, said at the time.
“We are alleging this left the company at serious risk of criminal exploitation.”
Gavin Issacs, who was CEO of Entain at the time the investigation started, stated at the time that the company was treating the allegations ‘extremely seriously’ – a sentiment echoed by his successor, David.
