Casino operator Rank Group has been fined £500,000 by the UK Gambling Commission.
The firm was hit with the fine for failing to protect a VIP problem gambler who managed to lose £1 million that was credited to him from his account in a 24-hour period.
The UK Gambling Commission, which regulates gambling and supervises gaming law in the United Kingdom, discovered that the firm failed to interact with the customer despite him showing problematic behaviour.
The gamer, who has chosen to remain anonymous, lost the money at Rank Group’s land-based Grosvenor Casino and at their online site Grosvenor Casinos.
According to reports, the Gambling Commission also discovered that the firm failed to follow rules for the provision of credit and that they contacted the problem gambler during a period of self-exclusion.
The overseas customer, described as long-standing and of high net value by Rank Group, self-excluded himself from the group’s online casino website for a period of fewer than six months in 2016. It was during this time that he was visited by a General Manager of Grosvenor Casinos.
Richard Watson, the Executive Director at the UK Gambling Commission, said the penalty package would have been “a lot higher” if the group hadn’t taken positive action by self-reporting their failures and being open during the investigation.
He said: “We expect all operators to protect any consumer who may be experiencing problems with their gambling, and operators shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking that VIP customers don’t experience difficulties.
“No matter how wealthy customers are, operators still need to monitor them effectively to ensure they aren’t showing signs of problem gambling. It is certainly not appropriate to visit customers during a period when they are self-excluded.”
According to reports, the fine paid by Rank will be used to analyse the data sets of customers to identify risk indicators associated with harmful gambling.
