Online gambling operator Betway is under regulatory fire after it allowed a customer to gamble away more than £370,000 which he stole from his workplace.
The UK Gambling Commission has launched an investigation into the matter after Betway failed to ask the gambler, a person with severe gambling addiction, to evidence the source of his funds and whether he could afford spending large amounts of money.
Ben Jones, 30, from Colwick, Nottingham, worked as a wholesale manager at The Cake Decorating Co., one of UK’s largest retailers of cake decorating suppliers. The married father of two regularly stole from his workplace to fuel his gambling addiction.
He began taking cash in May 2015 when he first deployed an elaborate scheme that prevented his superiors from discovering the fraud. At first, Jones started taking £5,000 a month to spend on Betway’s website. His scheme continued for more than three years as he wagered ever larger sums.
At later stages, he would steal up to £30,000 a month. He did so by taking orders and giving his own bank account details for payment instead of those of his workplace.
To avoid being caught, Jones would make sure the products ordered were dispatched and then would alter computer records to cover up his wrongdoing. However, his fraud was uncovered in November 2018 when he forgot to change one order and the customer who had not received the items he had ordered lodged a complaint.
A Psychiatric Disorder
Jones was able to gamble away £370,347 over the course of three and a half years. He was sentenced to serve 18 months in custody. He would then be freed and put on probation.
He admitted to committing the fraud. Omran Belhadi, who defended Jones in the Nottingham Crown Court, said that his client’s gambling habit was “so severe it is categorised as a psychiatric disorder.”
Mr. Belhadi further said in court that Jones did not steal the money to profit from it, but simply could not refrain from indulging his urge to continue to gamble and constantly increase the amounts spent with Betway.
Mr. Belhadi also noted that his client has been helping other people with severe gambling problems and has held sessions with staff from Betway rival Sky Betting & Gaming to help the gambling operator “improve its systems.”
The Cake Decorating Company nearly went bust as a result from Jones’ fraud. The company’s management was forced to take out high interest loans in order to keep the business afloat. Company owner Daniel White said that the elaborate scheme did affect his company’s profitability significantly, but they have recovered well since it was uncovered.
Betway Under Scrutiny
The UK Gambling Commission has been notified about the incident and has launched a probe that could result in Betway facing a hefty fine over its failure to address Jones’ excessive spending habit and ask for proof that he source of the money gambled was legal.
Under UK gambling law, locally licensed operators are required to carry out adequate and timely money laundering checks and to reach out to gamblers who demonstrate problem gambling patterns. Betway failed to conduct such checks on Jones, despite his apparent gambling problem.
A spokesperson for the gambling operator said this week that it is “aware of this matter and we are investigating it further.” The statement went on that Betway “does not seek, nor does it wish to profit, from any illicit funds wagered on its sites” and that while it establishes that stolen money has been used “we take steps to ensure that the victims are reimbursed.”
Earlier this year, Betway’s rival, Ladbrokes Coral, was slapped a £5.9 million fine by the UK Gambling Commission for a similar violation of failing to stop customers from betting with stolen money.
Betway is facing scrutiny in another regulated market. Earlier this year, the Belgian Gaming Commission announced that it had started “a sanction procedure” over lack of transparency in the gambling company’s ownership structure.
In September, Betway suspended its Belgian-facing operations, saying on its .be website that it had to make some software changes” due to a “change in regulation.”
Source: Betway lets gambler, 30, with severe addiction blow £370,000 he stole from his employer , Herald Publicist
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