Platinum Gaming Faces £10M Fine Amid AML Shortcomings

Platinum Gaming, the company behind Unibet.co.uk and Bingo.com, has been fined £10 million by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for serious and repeated breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) and safer gambling regulations. The enforcement follows an extensive investigation into player activity between January 2023 and May 2024, during which the operator failed to identify or intervene with multiple high-risk, high-spending customers.

According to the Commission, players were able to lose tens of thousands of pounds within short timeframes including one case where a customer lost £5,000 within a single day of opening an account. Despite clear indicators of potential gambling harm, the operator’s systems failed to trigger adequate safeguards or meaningful interventions.

The UKGC also cited significant AML weaknesses, including inadequate customer due diligence, vague risk assessments, and failure to monitor accounts previously closed over money laundering concerns. John Pierce, the Commission’s director of enforcement, described the case as evidence of “serious shortcomings in customer interaction and AML systems,” emphasizing that these failures exposed consumers to preventable harm.

This is Platinum Gaming’s second major fine in two years, following a £2.9 million penalty in 2023 for similar breaches. Alongside the financial sanction, the operator has been issued a formal warning and is now required to undergo an independent audit to ensure compliance improvements.

The UKGC’s decisive action underscores its commitment to enforcing responsible gambling standards and ensuring operators take full accountability for player safety and financial integrity.