Caesars Entertainment pays £13m for ‘serious systematic failings’

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment is set to pay £13 million after a series of failures over money laundering, social responsibility and customer interaction in the UK, in the Gambling Commission’s biggest penalty package.

The regulator said it had also stripped three senior managers of their personal licences.

The commission said it had found “serious systematic failings” at the business, which operates 11 casinos across Britain.

It singled out the way VIP customers were treated between January 2016 and December 2018.

One customer was allowed to lose £323,000 in a year despite showing signs of problem gambling, including spending more than five hours in a casino on 30 occasions.

It also failed to do proper checks on where the funds of big spenders came from, including one customer who lost £1.6 million in three months, and another politically exposed person who lost £795,000 in just over a year.

Neil McArthur, chief executive of the Gambling Commission, said: “We have published this case at this time because it’s vitally important that the lessons are factored into the work the industry is currently doing to address poor practices of VIP management in which we must see rapid progress made.”

The £13 million will be used to reduce harmful gambling.