Lottomart operator scores £360,000 penalty for compliance failures

• Maple International Ventures will pay £360,000 to settle regulatory action with the UK Gambling Commission following a compliance assessment
• Investigation revealed significant failings in anti-money laundering controls and social responsibility procedures at Lottomart.com
• All penalty funds will be directed to socially responsible causes as part of the settlement agreement

Maple International Ventures Limited, the operator of Lottomart.com, is set to pay a £360,000 fine following a UK Gambling Commission investigation that uncovered major compliance failures.

The Commission begun a regulatory review into Lottomart’s operations and procedures in June 2024 following a compliance assessment of the operator’s remote gaming licence.

The investigation revealed significant issues with the company’s anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility controls. Customers without a proper KYC were able to continue depositing beyond financial thresholds established for customer due diligence checks.

The regulator found that Maple International Ventures’ risk assessment was inadequate between June 2023 and July 2024, omitting critical risks such as those posed by organised crime gangs and mule accounts.

The operator’s systems for detecting duplicate and linked accounts proved particularly problematic, with one customer successfully evading controls simply by switching the order of their names.

John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, said:

“The cornerstone of every licensed business must be the proper implementation of effective policies and procedures aimed at making gambling crime free and safer.

“This operator is now being held to account for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings uncovered during a compliance assessment.

“We would advise all operators to read the Maple International Ventures public statement and consider whether their own policies and procedures are both effective and are being successfully implemented.”

The operator failed to implement effective systems for monitoring customer activity and identifying potential gambling harm from account opening.

Controls for identifying concerning behaviours such as binges, spikes, overnight play and high-staking following large wins were deemed inadequate.

On the positive side, the comission noted that Lottomart’s situation presents a number mitigating factors’ such as:

• has an unblemished regulatory history
• swiftly put in place an action plan designed to remedy the failings and provided updates
• fully co-operated with the investigation and provided information by agreed deadlines
• accepted the failings at an appropriately early stage in the investigation

The £360,000 settlement includes a £50,000 divestment, with all funds directed to socially responsible purposes. This penalty represents part of the Commission’s continued enforcement against operators who fail to meet regulatory standards.