swetswise.com
Luke 
March 2, 2016
British bookmaker PaddyPower has gotten into some hot water recently when very unpleasant accusations were sent their way from numerous sources. According to a recent investigation by the UK Gambling Commission – the foremost authority that monitors casinos and betting booths both online and offline – PaddyPower has neglected to properly report the activities of three different gamblers suspected of participating in money laundering schemes. The investigators state that a grand total of £280,000 were laundered right under the noses of PaddyPower officials, who either never learned a thing or deliberately chose not to act upon the information they received. The bookmaker’s management refused to argue the allegations and made a deal with the UKGC in order to avoid being fined. As a result, PaddyPower agreed to donate the aforementioned £280,000 to a “socially responsible cause”, as well as cover the expenses of the investigation, which amount to roughly £30,000. Several sources claim, however, that this isn’t the management team’s first transgression.
According to The Guardian, a gambler we’re going to be referring to as Customer A, who apparently became addicted to a Fixed Odds Betting Terminal machine. Several employees working at the betting shop noticed Customer A’s frequent visits and large spending sprees and approached him, but were assured by him that he owned five restaurants and as such had plenty of disposable income. Upon some investigation, though, it was revealed that Customer A not only didn’t own a single restaurant, but actually worked several jobs and spent most of earnings on the betting terminals. When the manager of the betting shops contacted his superiors, explaining Customer A’s problem and suggesting that perhaps his time with the machine be forcibly limited by the staff, the superiors suggested the opposite – that the staff encourage the man’s addiction and stimulate his frequent visits. Eventually, an employee of the betting shop followed the man home and learned that he was homeless and had lost all his jobs, as well as the right to see his children.
This, alongside numerous other transgressions (such as PaddyPower turning a blind eye to a banker using ill-gotten money to place bets), was uncovered in a detailed and very public report by the UK Gambling Commission. I don’t need to tell you why those things are pretty terrible, but there’s also another aspect to it – objectively speaking, PaddyPower is not a bad bookmaker at all. We asked the people behind ukcasino.org.uk and according to them PaddyPower has one of the best online casinos on the market, which leads to the thought that just because there are a few rotten apples doesn’t mean the whole tree is rotten. We can do little more but hope that the bookmaker will put their act together and the next news we report about them will be a positive one.
