Parent Company of BetMGM, Ladbrokes Accused of Letting Known Criminals Launder Cash
Entain, the parent company of popular US regulated brand BetMGM and the long established UK brand Ladbrokes, is being accused of allowing more than a dozen suspected criminals to funnel dirty money through its accounts despite being aware of the risks.
Those claims were lodged against the company by Austrac, which made the allegations in its Federal Court filings. Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre is an Australian government financial intelligence agency responsible for monitoring financial transactions to identify money laundering, organised crime, tax evasion, welfare fraud and terrorism financing.
It alleges London-listed Entain exposed its banking partners to serious risks and claims its board and senior management breached anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws between 2018 and December 2024.
Austrac will be presenting its case this week.
It claims that Entain allowed customers to open accounts under pseudonyms and that it did not have the right monitoring systems in place to track unusual transactions.
It is also alleged to have allowed 17 high-risk customers to spend more than $152 million without carrying out appropriate due diligence.
“By facilitating this movement of money into and out of betting accounts without compliant [anti-money laundering] controls, Entain exposed its banking partners and other financial institutions to … risks,” the court filing reads, adding that Entain was “at risk of being exploited by criminals.”
In a statement back in December, Entain's CEO Gavin Isaacs warned investors of a potentially significant financial penalty from the legal proceedings.
Violations of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism act can result in fines of up to A$22.2 million ($14.14 million) per infraction under Australia's AML/CTF Act.
"We have co-operated fully with AUSTRAC throughout its investigation and we are implementing further enhancements to Entain Australia's AML and CTF compliance arrangements. ... We expect these to be implemented in line with the plan we communicated to AUSTRAC in 2023," Isaacs said.
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