Order to 888 Denmark Limited concerning amendment of their anti-money laundering procedures

The Danish Gambling Authority have assessed that in the specific case, 888 Denmark Limited did not sufficiently fulfill their obligations under section 25(1) of the Danish Anti-Money Laundering Act. The section states that the operator must investigate unusually large transaction patterns and activities which do not have a clearly economic or demonstrable legal purpose, in order to establish whether there is any suspicion or reasonable reason to suspect that these are or have been linked to money laundering.

At the same time, the Danish Gambling Authority find that, in the specific case, 888 Denmark Limited have failed to fulfill their obligation under section 26(1), to report to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime, by knowledge, suspicion or reasonable reason to suspect that a transaction, funds or activity is or has been associated with money laundering.

In the specific case, an individual deposited more than DKK 1 million into his gaming account within three months. During that period, 888 Denmark Limited performed various background checks on the player, mainly through open sources on the internet. After the player had deposited more than DKK 600,000 into his gaming account within a few days, 888 Denmark Limited also asked the player to submit documentation for his income or assets. The player declined to provide any income or asset documentation, and despite this, 888 Denmark Limited allowed the player to continue playing for almost one month before his gaming account was closed. 888 Denmark Limited did not find any reason to report to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime in this regard.

In this specific case, the Danish Gambling Authority find that 888 Denmark Limited should have prevented the player from gambling earlier than was the case, and that 888 Denmark Limited should have sent a report to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime.

Based on this, the Danish Gambling Authority have ordered 888 Denmark Limited to amend its procedures in order to prevent the possibility of money laundering at an earlier stage and to report to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime in similar cases.

888 Denmark Limited must submit documentation to the Danish Gambling Authority by 3 February 2020.