QuinnBet (Gibraltar) Limited has reached a settlement of £609,104 ($830,501) with the UK Gambling Commission after the regulator found serious deficiencies in its anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility measures.
This agreement was finalized on Thursday, concluding a thorough compliance review that examined QuinnBet's operations from March 2023 to August 2025. The settlement includes a disgorgement payment of £193,118, along with contributions to the Gambling Commission’s investigation expenses.
All funds from this settlement will be remitted to the UK government’s Consolidated Fund, which supports various public expenditures, including essential public services and the operations of government departments.
The Commission's investigation uncovered multiple failures in QuinnBet's AML protocols. It was reported that the operator did not implement adequate measures to promptly identify and reduce the risks associated with customers exhibiting excessive spending behaviors.
One specific case showed a customer, earning around £2,000 monthly, depositing and losing £9,000 in just four days. In another instance, a different customer deposited roughly £120,000 and withdrew £111,000 within a span of three months without the source of the funds being verified.
Delays in filing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and errors during a platform migration were also criticized, resulting in 194 customers unintentionally exceeding their deposit limits. Such lapses led to violations of Licence Condition 12.1.1 and Social Responsibility Code Provisions (SRCP) 3.4.3 and 3.4.4, which require effective AML policies and timely customer behavior assessments.
In terms of social responsibility, QuinnBet's methods for recognizing and addressing gambling harm were deemed insufficient. The review pointed out an over-reliance on manual checks and slow detection systems. In one case, a player made about 4,800 bets in a single day and continued placing bets with no internal alerts being triggered. Another example noted a customer who staked more than £215,000 in one day after a significant win, with the activity only flagged the following morning.
The manual system in place for applying reduced deposit limits for customers aged 18-24 was also problematic, as it sometimes permitted younger players to exceed their limits extensively. In one case, a player deposited eight times their allowed monthly limit and lost the total in a single day.
John Pierce, the Director of Enforcement at the Gambling Commission, highlighted the importance of this case, indicating the severe repercussions of relying on inadequate systems that fail to quickly recognize and respond to signs of harm and financial crime.
"We expect operators to ensure their safeguards are effective in practice to protect consumers and keep crime out of gambling," Pierce stated.
He acknowledged QuinnBet’s acknowledgment of its shortcomings and swift actions to improve its AML policies and harm detection procedures. QuinnBet's cooperation during the investigation, including voluntarily reporting issues and developing a remedial action plan, was considered positively; however, previous public warnings about similar issues at other operators were noted as aggravating factors.
The UK Gambling Commission has intensified its focus on AML efforts following a recent risk assessment report that examined vulnerabilities in money laundering and counter-terrorist financing across the gambling sector. The report revealed that operational shortcomings significantly contribute to AML/CTF risks, with many operators exhibiting inadequate policies and insufficiently trained staff.
In another case this week, Holland Park Leisure Limited was penalized for not complying with the mandatory multi-operator self-exclusion scheme.
