LeoVegas reprimanded for breach of AML Act
On the 28th of October 2021, the Danish Gambling Authority has reprimanded LeoVegas for breaching the rules on customer due diligence measures of sections 10(1), 11(1) and (4), and 17(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, and the rules on the investigation obligation of section 25(1)(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Moreover, the Danish Gambling Authority has reprimanded LeoVegas for breaching the rules on the reporting obligation of section 26(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
The Danish Gambling Authority found the breaches at a spot sample review of 20 of LeoVegas’s high roller customers. The Danish Gambling Authority identified breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering Act’s rules at five out of 20 players. The breaches have primary taken place in the period 2017-2019.
The Danish Gambling Authority has reprimanded LeoVegas for insufficient customer due diligence measures and failure to comply with the investigation obligation because LeoVegas has let five different players deposit between 1.2 and 1.67 million to their gambling accounts during periods of 6-46 months without having any knowledge of whether or not the player’s funds originated from criminal relations.
The Danish Gambling Authority has reprimanded LeoVegas for breaching the rules on the reporting obligation because LeoVegas in four out of the five instances made a report to the Anti-Money Laundering Secretariat too late. In the four instances, the Anti-Money Laundering Secretariat were notified between 10 and 22 months after LeoVegas suspected money laundering and were unable to disprove the suspicion. In all four instances, LeoVegas first made the report after the Danish Gambling Authority had spot sampled the four gambling accounts for a review.
The Danish Gambling Authority notes that the rules on customer due diligence measures and the investigation and reporting obligations are fundamental in the Anti-Money Laundering Act and breaches of the rules consequently lead to an order or a reprimand, as a principle.
The reprimand for LeoVegas does not cause any obligation to act, since LeoVegas has informed the Danish Gambling Authority that on the 1st of January 2020, LeoVegas has introduced new business procedures which means that customer due diligence measures and investigations will be made at a far earlier stage in similar cases. Furthermore, LeoVegas has informed the Danish Gambling Authority that the business procedures for reports have been amended on the 1st of January 2020, which means that in similar cases, the Anti-Money Laundering Secretariat will be notified immediately.