Entain Plc’s Australian subsidiaries have been accused of significant compliance liabilities which have been abused to facilitate criminal activities and money laundering.
An Austrac report seen by the Australian Financial Review detailed failures which occurred at its Neds and Ladbrokes AUS brands, and the group’s subsequent exposure to money laundering liabilities and fraud by criminal accounts.
According to the report, Austrac alleged that the company fell way short in its AML procedures specifically around betting activity of players that had significant links to drug trafficking.
The Austrac allegations assert that Entain failed to take action in spite of knowing that the player in question was a wanted suspect when it came to the global drugs trade.
It’s alleged the company failed with its intervention process, even when the player had wagered in excess of $1 million over a year-long period.
Incidents between 2015 and 2022 saw Entain accused of elevating the risk and vulnerability of its financial partners having allowed a player with significant links to the trafficking to launder more than $20m through its operations.
Entain CEO Stella David provided the following statement to iGaming Expert over the allegations: “We are taking these allegations extremely seriously and continue to fully cooperate with Austrac. We are committed to keeping financial crime out of gambling and continue to play our part in supporting a well-regulated and compliant sector for our customers, stakeholders and the wider community.”
Furthermore, there were also allegations revealed in the report that took aim at the process utilised by Entain when it came to customer onboarding and checks.
It is alleged that customers were enabled to set up accounts with not enough friction and even managed to create accounts using different fictional names.
The report from Austrac stated that patterns of play and transactions from a myriad of players at Entain were inconsistent with an average gambler.
They added that it “involves heightened money laundering and terrorism finance risk,” alleging that “Entain had information that some of the customers had been arrested, charged or convicted in connection with offences, including corruption, money laundering, drug offences and other offences.”
The Australian body reported in March: “As of April 2025, both parties are engaged in mediation to settle the case, with reports suggesting a potential settlement of up to $300m, although Austrac has denied receiving such an offer.”
Whilst a greater level of detail has been revealed around the allegations, the original case was filed by Austrac at the end of last year.
At the time, Gavin Isaacs was the CEO of the operator. He responded: “We have co-operated fully with AUSTRAC throughout its investigation and we are implementing further enhancements to Entain Australia’s AML and CTF compliance arrangements.
“Whilst we still have some further improvements to make, we expect these to be implemented in line with the plan we communicated to AUSTRAC in 2023.
“We are committed to keeping financial crime out of gambling and continue to play our part in supporting a well-regulated and compliant sector for our customers, stakeholders and the wider community.”
Isaacs has since departed the firm in a decision made relatively abruptly after just five months in charge in February this year.
