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Lessons to be learned from failures at Gala Coral Group

27 April 2016

The Commission is calling on gambling operators to learn lessons from its investigations into failings at the Gala Coral Group Ltd.

As part of a regulatory settlement, which has concluded the Commission’s investigations, Gala Coral Group Ltd has agreed to forfeit more than £846,000 and take steps to improve its anti-money laundering and social responsibility processes.

The investigation related to the way two of Gala Coral Group Ltd’s divisions (Coral Racing Limited and Gala Interactive) handled its relationship with a man who was jailed for three years after admitting to stealing £800,000 from a vulnerable adult.

The man had been a retail customer of Gala Coral Group since 2012 and was an online customer between January 2014 and January 2015.

As part of the settlement, Gala Coral has agreed to pay £846,600 to the man’s victim as this was the total amount he lost through gambling with the operator.

All operators are advised to read Gala Coral Group: Failures in anti-money laundering and social responsibility controls public statement for further details and lessons to be learned.

Richard Watson, Programme Director at the Commission, said: “We expect the industry will learn the lessons from this case, as it is their responsibility to keep crime out of gambling and protect vulnerable people from harm.“

He added: “We know that Gala Coral have reflected heavily on this case and have assured us of actions they have taken to address the failings. Operators must proactively monitor customers to keep gambling safe and free from crime”.

Public statements

Public statements are only available online for 3 years from the date of issue. If you require a copy of a historic public statement, contact us with details of the statement you require.

Note to editors

  1. Socially responsible causes include organisations focused on tackling gambling-related harm.
  2. More information about how we regulate the gambling industry.
  3. Useful statistics on the gambling industry.
  4. More information on prevention of money-laundering.
  5. Read more about voluntary settlements on page 11 of >Statement of principles for licensing and regulation.

For all media enquiries, please contact the Gambling Commission press office.


Last updated: 22 March 2021

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