Entain has one year to prepare for its date with the Australian financial crime regulator AUSTRAC, as the timeline for court proceedings has now been set.
The Straight has reported that the operator is scheduled to meet the regulator in the Federal Court of Australia on 30 November 2026, with Justice Moore ordering that two weeks from that date be set aside for a hearing on the case.
Entain must submit its evidence for the case by 6 August, while AUSTRAC must have its case in order by an earlier date of 10 April. Yet, there is the option for the case to be settled before then.
The background
An investigation was launched last December into Entain’s Australian subsidiaries, Ladbrokes and Neds. The focus of the probe was their exposure to money laundering liabilities and fraud involving criminal accounts.
Entain is facing allegations from AUSTRAC that it permitted 17 high-risk customers to spend AUS $152m (approximately €84.5m) without adequate checks. Specifically, the operator is accused of allowing one customer, who had strong ties to drug trafficking, to launder more than $20m through its platform.
Last month, the company admitted to shortcomings in its previous anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) compliance program between December 2018 and August 2024.
However, Entain disputed several allegations and interpretations made by AUSTRAC, noting that as of August 2024, its AML and CTF compliance had been substantially upgraded and was compliant with the regulator’s frameworks. The operator also highlighted changes made to bolster operations in the past two years.
Going through changes
The comments came as Entain filed its defence in response to the regulator’s amended statement of claim in the Federal Court.
Andrew Vouris, CEO of Entain Australia & New Zealand, said: “We sincerely regret that our old program didn’t meet expectations. We followed expert advice at the time but, looking back, we recognise the old program missed the mark.
“We’ve acknowledged our shortcomings, taken responsibility, and spent the last two years learning from them and fixing them. Entain has fundamentally transformed its approach to compliance and now operates a market-leading program, underpinned by a compliance-first culture – to win, but not at all costs.”
Changes to its compliance approach listed by Entain included:
- Increasing AML/CTF staffing tenfold
- Investing tens of millions of dollars in new systems and technology
- Closing higher risk channels, including all cash payment channels which previously accounted for less than 2% of deposits
- Closing all 17 customer accounts in question prior to legal proceedings, some as far back as 2020
- Introducing new governance, controls, processes and oversight of risks
- Commitment from a new leadership team to a compliance-first culture.
Entain noted that it has been fully cooperative with AUSTRAC and it “continues to engage constructively and in good faith”.
