Gambling firm fined £800,000 over corrupt Leeds accountant

GAMBLING firm Betfred is paying more than £800,000 in compensation after an accountant used money stolen from his employer to become a VIP gambler.

The Leeds-based accountant believed to be Matthew Stevens worked in house at Core Telecommunications in Stanningley.

Rothwell-based Stevens was jailed for three years and four months in January after admitting to stealing from his employer.

It has been reported that Stevens stole £856,700 from Core, spending a large proportion at Gibraltar-based Betfred where he was in the top 5% of customers for profits and spending according to The Telegraph.

The Gambling Commission said the company had failed in its anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies.

Now Betfred will have to pay £443,000 to the victims of criminal activities, a further £344,500 will be paid to socially responsible causes, and the firm will be required to pay the costs of the Gambling Commission investigation.

In addition, under the settlement, Betfred must conduct an independent third party review and audit of its anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies and procedures.

Richard Watson, programme director at the Gambling Commission, said: “We identified a number of weaknesses in the anti-money laundering and social responsibility controls used by Betfred. The penalty package of over £800,000 reflects these failures.

“The Commission has now concluded a wide range of cases over the last 10 months leading to around £3.75m in penalty packages. The outcomes and findings in these cases provide a clear signal to operators of the need to learn the lessons from these for social responsibility and money laundering controls, or risk facing tougher sanctions.”