The Voice of God: Genesis Global Fined £3.8m
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the body that oversees the country’s professional betting industry, has issued a stern compliance warning that it “will use all tools at its disposal to ensure consumer safety”.
The diktat follows the imposition of a swingeing £3.8 million fine (US$5.1m/€4.57m)—with more sanctions likely to follow—on Genesis Global Limited, who have now been banned from business while they undergo UKGC forensic auditing.
Genesis, which was running 14 websites, among them: casinocruise.com, casinoplanet.com and genesiscasino.com, has been found guilty of serious social responsibility and money laundering failures.
“All gambling businesses should pay very close attention to this case,” warned UKGC Executive Director Helen Venn.
“The Commission will use all tools at its disposal to ensure consumer safety — and that extends to stopping a business from actually operating.
“Failing to follow rules aimed at keeping gambling safe and crime-free will never be a viable business option for gambling businesses in Britain.”
Among Genesis’ startling “oversights”: Not placing effective restrictions on a nurse who wagered £245,000 in three months, even though they knew she only earned around £30,000 a year; allowing another humble punter to lose almost £200,000 without running an affordability check, and letting yet another customer lose £234,000 at the online casino wheel.
And Genesis money laundering failures included:
Allowing one customer to deposit over £1.3 million (US$1.7m/€1.5m) and lose £600,000 (US$813,000/€721,000), before carrying out checks; letting another player lose over £100,000 in six-months – again, without checking their financial status.
