Online gambling site BetCity fined €3 mil. for poor money laundering safeguards
The Dutch Gambling Authority fined Betend, the company behind the gambling site BetCity, 3 million euros because it does not do enough to prevent money laundering. According to the Gambling Authority, the company did not make sufficient improvements after a previous warning.
By Dutch law, gambling sites must investigate their customers to determine their identity and where the money they’re gambling is coming from. That is to prevent criminals from laundering their illegally obtained gains through gambling sites. The companies also have to report suspicious transactions.
According to the Gambling Authority, Betend failed to do this between December 2022 and May 2023. The company only started screening customers after they had already gambled large amounts. Betent was also “lax” in asking where customers’ money came from and failed to report many suspicious transactions.
In mid-2022, the Gambling Authority issued a blanket warning to all online gambling providers, alerting them to the rules around preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. According to the Gambling Authority, Betend has failed to get its affairs in order since then.
