Sweden Imposes $3.6M Fine On Mr. Green For Multiple Violations

Mr Green which is owned by William Hill has gotten into trouble with Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen who highlighted the fact that Mr.Green had breached multiple gaming regulations.

The main violations listed by Spelinspektionen include Mr. Green’s anti-money laundering tactics, know-your-customer policies, and its responsible gambling duties. Due to these multiple violations, the gambling regulator has imposed a massive $3.6 million fine on the operator.

Mr. Green’s troubles with Spelinspektionen go back to 2019. The operator was first hit with a case after several complaints were made about its implementation of proper anti-money laundering controls. There was also some concern about its responsible gambling practices.

The gambling regulator presented 15 customers who either had problem gambling signs or intent to commit money laundering between Jan 2019 and June 2020. Mr. Green did nothing about this and even though it made a commitment towards responsible gambling.

One of the big failings that were noted by the regulator was that the operator processed large deposits for players, even thought they were unable to provide proper proof for their source of funds. One of the incidents highlighted by the regulator was when a player deposited SEK39.3 million and went on to lose a total of SEK3.2 million.

It later came to light that this individual declared income that barely covered the year’s losses. Additionally, when the customer stopped depositing money, Mr. Green did not follow up and investigate whether it was a case of money laundering. Yet another customer was noticed to have deposited several times per day and lost six times their reported income. This went on for several years until the account was closed in July 2020.

Mr. Green’s Defense

Mr. Green who is no stranger to getting fined defended themselves for their lapses with anti-money laundering tactics and said it was due to the implementation of a new detection system in their operations. The new system experienced technical issues and did not flag customers that looked to be at high risk. Mr. Green said that it has now improved its case management operations and customer risk assessments. It has also hired more money laundering investigators.

Mr. Green has also confirmed that it has implemented new responsible gambling policies to better protect players. Those who are marked as high risk are now being contacted by either e-mail or telephone. If they fail to respond, they will have their account suspended until they contact Mr. Green to provide relevant information and put in a request to reopen their account.