Caesars UK Fined for Money Laundering Failures

The UK arm of Caesars Entertainment has run into problems in with the country's strict money laundering laws for casinos.

Indeed, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has just fined Caesars £845,000 for certain issues that they found with their anti-money laundering processes.   

The UKGC put a note on their website confirming that they had imposed the fine due to a “number of serious weaknesses” that they had uncovered in 2 of the company's casinos in the capital. The casinos in question are the Playboy Club London and the Empire Casino in London.

The full details of the issue reveal that Caesars UK failed in the following areas: assessing the risks involved in dealing with certain customers, conducting due diligence with sufficient rigour, ascertaining the source of the wealth belonging to a customer and keeping full records showing the details of their decision making processes.

Additionally, it was also revealed that Caesars in the UK was depending too much on the money laundering checks being made by the international divisions of Caesars rather than doing their own. They were also found to not have taken into account whether these findings met with the UKGC's requirements as well as those of the region where the checks were carried out.

Caesars admitted to the shortcomings and suggested a voluntary settlement. They also agreed that an independent reviewer come in to check out their anti-money laundering processes and to suggest a plan to improve them in the future.    

The UKGC said that casino operators who fail in their money laundering processes risk losing their licence.