The Gambling Commission has ordered Buzz Group Limited to pay a £780,000 ($1.04 million) punishment.
For social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) violations, the firm that operates buzzbingo.com has received a formal warning and penalty charge from the regulator.
These incidents occurred between October 2019 and December 2020, according to the Commission, and included failing to identify at-risk players, relying too heavily on open source and anecdotal evidence when determining a player’s source of funds, and failing to keep adequate records of AML interactions.
Without a “meaningful engagement” from the operator, one consumer apparently was able to deposit £22,400 in five days. Another customer deposited and lost £12,400 over the course of six days, although Buzz Group’s only record of the engagement indicated that the customer was “coping well in Covid-19.”
The operator also deemed one customer’s enormous win adequate coverage for future spend, despite the fact that it could have been profits of crime rather than recycling winnings.
“As a regulator, we expect all operators to establish policies and processes that keep gambling safe and crime-free,” said Helen Venn, Executive Director of the Gambling Commission.
“Every gambling establishment should be aware that we check to see if these are in place and being followed. We will take action if they are not.”
The Commission did acknowledge, however, that Buzz Group cooperated with the investigation and took corrective action to remedy the identified flaws.
It emphasised that, like other recent enforcement actions, the case against Buzz Group was the outcome of planned compliance effort.