Videoslots fined £650,000 for AML, safer gambling failures

Online gambling operator Videoslots Limited has been fined £650,000 (US$849,100) after a UK Gambling Commission investigation uncovered major anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility breaches.

The company, which operates videoslots.co.uk, mrvegas.com, and megariches.com, has also received an official warning and must undertake an independent third-party audit to ensure its AML and safer gambling controls are being properly implemented.

Investigators found that Videoslots’ systems failed to effectively monitor customer behaviour and identify signs of harmful gambling. Although the operator automatically applied monthly deposit limits, the limits were calculated on a calendar-month basis and did not include customers’ initial deposits.

Videoslots allowed one customer to lose £5,000 in a month despite having a £3,000 deposit limit, another to lose £5,000 within 24 hours under the same limit, and a third to lose £7,500 over 18 days despite a £2,000 limit. In another case, a customer lost £6,550 over three active gambling days across two months without receiving any intervention, showing clear failures in harm monitoring.

The commission also found major AML and counter-terrorist financing failures, including gaps in policies and procedures, poor record-keeping, and an over-reliance on an automated risk-scoring algorithm that repeatedly failed to identify high-risk behaviour.

In one example, a customer deposited over £75,000 ($97,900 USD) in digital pre-payment vouchers over 16 days and withdrew funds to four different bank accounts, occasionally accessing the site from outside Great Britain. Despite the clear high-risk indicators, the automated risk system failed to trigger timely source-of-funds checks.

Another customer made large deposits and withdrawals over a month, yet the operator assumed the activity was funded by “recycled winnings” — without verifying this or escalating the risk level appropriately.

John Pierce, the Commission’s Director of Enforcement, said the findings showed Videoslots’ controls were “not applied to the standards we expect.”

“The investigation identified a serious example where pre-paid digital vouchers had been used for gambling without effective oversight and early intervention,” he said. “The over-reliance on an algorithm to monitor risk meant that the customer was able to carry out a high volume of deposits and transfer the proceeds of gambling to multiple different destination accounts with insufficient and timely checks or robust source of funds verification taking place.”

He said the operator failed to act quickly and did not conduct enhanced checks until customers reached significant spend levels.

The commission has urged all operators using similar digital voucher or open-loop payment systems to report this as a key event immediately if they have not already done so. Businesses are also advised to review the regulator’s updated guidance on emerging money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

“Alongside the financial penalty and the necessary steps already taken by Videoslots to address our findings, the operator must also complete an independent audit and we will monitor the outcome of this closely," Pierce added.