Danish Gaming Regulator vs. Unibet

The Danish regulator has claimed it’s latest victim in its anti-money laundering crackdown in a case associated to online gaming company Unibet.

Controls around anti-money laundering have been tightening in the Scandinavian state, and the betting company joins an extensive list of firms who have been subjected to recent warnings from governmental authorities.

Unibet’s case stretches to activity undertaken by one individual between 2016 and 2020. They failed to take appropriate action when a known high-risk customer deposited a colossal 1.4m DKK (US$212, 520) intotheir account between 2016 and 2018.

The Kindred Group subsidiary had been alerted to the individual’s risk status in 2015 when they flagged on the firm’s internal security systems, however this was ignored given the account’s dormant status.

In December 2018, Unibet challenged the customer’s unique spending pattern by leaving a note on their account. The note demanded proof of earnings and action would be taken if they’re gaming activity re-flagged; the Danish Gambling Authority confirmed that customer evidence provided did not reflect transaction habits. Even at this stage, Unibet failed to intervene.

Eventually, the company closed the customer’s account in April 2020, but not before the individual was able to deposit a further 1.8M DKK (US$ 273, 250) into the platform. Furthermore, Unibet failed to report the incident to the Money Laundering Sectariat (MLS), who preside over all laundering cases within Denmark.

The MLS advisory board found Unibet to be negligent of appropriate due diligence and anti-money laundering controls, and demanded a report be submitted on the case. To press, Danish authorities have resisted charging transgressors major fines for such activity, but have been nevertheless extremely keen to reduce AML activity in the gaming industry.

Unibet will most likely not be the last company to feel the wrath of the regulator.