It seems as though scandals have been hitting the UK gambling market in a furious flurry recently. Following our report on 32Red opting to reimburse an Irish company with £590,000 after an employee stole credit cards to fund a gambling addiction at the site, it now seems as though Betway is being put under the microscope. The United Kingdom Gambling Commission is looking into the operations of the brand, after it was discovered that a customer was allowed to gamble away over £370,000 in funds, which he had stolen from his workplace.
An investigation has been launched into Betway and its KYC process, after it failed to ascertain where the gamblers had sourced his funds from and whether he was able to afford to carry on gambling with such high amounts of money.
The man in question, Mr Ben Jones from Colwick in Nottingham, was employed as a wholesale manager for The Cake Decorating Co., which is one of the United Kingdom’s largest retailers of cake decorating supplies. Yet, while he was gainfully employed there, it was discovered that Jones would regularly thieve from The Cake Decorating Co. so as to be able to fund his online gambling addiction.
He worked out a scheme in May of 2015, which would prevent any of his superiors from discovering that he was committing fraud. To begin with, Jones stole £5,000 each month from his employer, which he would then use at the Betway gambling site. The scheme he was using continued for over three years, with his wagers becoming larger as time went by. Towards the end, Jones was found to be stealing up to £30,000 per month from The Cake Decorating Co., which was done by taking orders from customers and providing his own bank account details to them for the payment to be sent to, rather than those of his workplace.
Jones Covered Up Computer Records; Gambled Away £370K+
So as not to be caught by his bosses, Jones would send the products out to clients, but then proceed with altering computer records to cover his tracks. As is often the case in such scenarios though, Mr Jones forgot to change one order in November of 2018, leading to a customer not receiving his items and lodging a complaint about it.
However, within the three-and-a-half years that he utilised his scheme, Jones managed to gamble away a total of £370,347. Having been found guilty of fraud following his own admission of the crime, he was sentenced to serve 18 months in custody before being freed and placed on probation.
Betway is now under scrutiny by the UK Gambling Commission, which could result in it being slapped with a large fine for its failure to address the customer’s huge spending habits. It is necessary for licensed operators to make sure that they carry out money laundering checks so that they comply with the law. Betway failed to complete such checks, even though it was clear that Jones had a gambling problem.
A spokesperson for the company said that the brand is already informed and aware of the matter, and that Betway is investigating things further. The statement went on to say that steps are being taken to ensure that the victims are reimbursed. Considering that The Cake Decorating Co. almost went bankrupt as a result of Jones’ fraud, this will likely come as pleasing news.
