Lottomart to pay $488,890 settlement with UK Gambling Commission for AML, social responsibility breaches

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has ordered Maple International Ventures Limited, the operator of Lottomart.com, to pay £360,000 ($488,890) after uncovering failures in anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility standards between June 2023 and July 2024.

The regulator said Maple failed to properly assess risks linked to money laundering and terrorist financing, with shortcomings in identifying organised crime and mule accounts. In one case, a customer avoided detection by reversing their first and last names. The company also did not adequately verify customer identities before allowing accounts to exceed transaction limits.

Social responsibility failings included ineffective systems to monitor player activity. The Commission said one customer opened a second account and deposited large sums before being detected. Maple was also criticised for weak controls to identify harmful behaviours such as gambling binges, sudden spikes in play, and high-stakes betting following big wins.

All £360,000 from the settlement will go to socially responsible causes, with £50,000 ($67,901) earmarked for groups and university-led programmes addressing gambling-related harm.

The regulator noted that Maple acted quickly to implement an action plan, cooperated with investigators, and had a previously clean compliance record.

John Pierce, the UKGC’s 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.”