UK Gambling Commission spanks Rank Group over anti-money laundering lapses

UK gaming operator Rank Group has been forced to ante up £950k in penalties for anti-money laundering (AML) lapses at its land-based and online businesses.

On Monday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) posted a summary of its investigation into two cases of shenanigans at Rank operations; one involving a Grosvenor Casinos customer and the other involving a different customer at Rank Digital’s MeccaBingo.com site.

The Grosvenor case involved a high roller named Da Feng Ding, who was recently sentenced to four years in prison on money laundering charges. The UKGC claimed that Ding was likely the “most commercially valuable customer” at one Grosvenor casino between 2008 and 2011, despite having no obvious source of legitimate income.

The UKGC found that Grosvenor had “reasonable grounds and numerous opportunities” to suspect Ding’s money was dirty yet “these opportunities were, on the whole, not taken.” Ding had also “exceeded the trigger points for interaction” under Grosvenor’s responsible gambling policies, yet there are no records of any such interactions taking place.