By Gavin Mackintosh-
Rank Group must pay a fine of £500,000 for failing to protect problem gambler who blew £1m which had just been credited to his account.
The Gambling Commission announced the imposition of penalty with land- and online-based casino operator £500,000 following an investigation into Rank’s failure to protect a customer with significant gambling problems. The fine was imposed last week, but a follow up investigation by The Eye Of Media.Com failed to verify whether indeed the fine has been paid. Communication with both the Gambling Casino and The Rank Group has led to no final answers, as representatives of both organisations claim not to know the answer.
Without confirmation of payment, the fine could potentially be a charade if the public are not assured that organisations fined cannot cut corsner to avoid paying the full fine.
The customer in question was a longstanding, very high net value individual who lived overseas. Rank’s failure to adequately address the customer’s problems allowed the customer to lose in excess of £1 million in a single 24-hour period.
The Commission concluded that Rank breached three sections of its Social Responsibility Code (“SRC”), which forms part of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and mandatorily applies to all gambling licence holders:
The Rank group breached its policy not to offer credit to digital customers. The company agreed to grant the customer a credit facility allowing him to draw down funds prior to the completion of banking transfers. Rank put arrangements in place to monitor credit and repayment, the arrangement was not formalized for a period of six weeks, during which time the customer’s online spending escalated dramatically.
Although the customer decided to self-exclude from Rank’s gambling operations by informing the Rank Group of his decision to stop gambling for a minimum period of six months, a Rank general manager visited the customer at his home overseas as part of a “keep in contact” networking visit, following which the general manager requested that the customer be re-instated. The identity of that manager appears to have been deliberately withheld, but why ?
The Eye Of Media.com has requested to know the identity of the manager and precisely what steps were taken to discipline him for his actions. The conduct was shameful and very unprofessional of the manager in question. Apart from the fine given to the Rank Group, it is important the manager himself is held to account.
SUBSTANTIAL
The gambling customer had gambled substantial amounts with Rank’s land-based Grosvenor Casino and online at www.grosvenorcasinos.com. In one 24-hour period, the customer lost £1m that had been credited to his account. He was evidently distraught, and the worst thing the manager could have done was seek to re-instate him.
Richard Watson, Gambling Commission executive director, said: “We expect all operators to protect any consumer who maybe experiencing problems with their gambling, and operators shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking that VIP customers don’t experience difficulties.
“No matter how wealthy customers are, operators still need to monitor them effectively to ensure they aren’t showing signs of problem gambling. It is certainly not appropriate to visit customers during a period when they are self-excluded.
“This penalty package would have been a lot higher were it not for the positive action Rank took in terms of self-reporting their failures and being open and transparent during our investigation.
The Gambling Commission also found that the Rank Group failed to recognize signs of problematic gambling behaviour, including escalated spending and high speed of play, repeated requests for credit increases and bonuses, overt signs of frustration, and periods of self-exclusion.
Richard Watson, Gambling Commission executive director, stated that the Commission “expect[s] all operators to protect any consumer who may be experiencing problems with their gambling, and operators shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking that VIP customers don’t experience difficulties.”
According to the Commission, Rank should have adopted a holistic approach towards identifying problematic behaviour, rather than focusing on assertions that the customer was “comfortable with his level of spend.”
In view of the foregoing infringements, Rank agreed to pay a settlement of £500,000 in lieu of a financial penalty. The settlement will go to GambleAware (a charity committed to minimising gambling-related harm) to pay for research into risk factors and traits associated with harmful gambling behaviour.
Rank also agreed to provide an anonymized dataset to GambleAware for research purposes; terminated its relationship with the customer (making an agreed divestment); and has agreed to pay a further £5,000 towards the Commission’s investigative costs