UKGC slams IMME over the targeting of OAPs

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has the published findings of an investigation into International Multi-Media Entertainments Limited (IMME), which revealed wide-ranging social responsibility and AML failings. A licence review into the firm began in January 2020, with the UKGC suggesting it was “of a mind” to revoke IMME’s licence. It was later suspended in March. Revealing its rationale behind suspending rather than revoking the licence, the UKGC said it had concerns about risks relating to IMME’s management and compliance practices, suggesting the firm had displayed a “lack of insight” about issues raised. IMME remained suspended throughout the investigation. The Lotteries.com operator was found to have aggressively targeted old-age pensioners (OAPs), allowing them to deposit large sums of money without conducting either a social responsibility check or a source of funds check, both of which are required under UKGC guidelines. In its investigation, the UKGC found that 75% of IMME’s customers were over 60 years old and 20% were over 80, something which the regulator labelled as “disproportionately focused” on older people and without consideration of that age group’s vulnerabilities. Customers complained about repeated calls by IMME sales staff, with the UKGC highlighting one instance where a customer in her 90s was called several times a week. Another complainant stated that a Lotteries.com customer was called every 30-40 minutes, five or six times until the phone was answered. Call centre staff were found to be using aliases, which the UKGC has suggested raises questions about the firm’s honesty in dealing with players. In addition, the regulator identified multiple complaints by customers to the police about IMME products. From a social responsibility perspective, IMME was unable to provide evidence of safer gambling interactions to the UKGC, including two instances where interactions did not take place with a 78-year-old individual who spent £63,951 in just over three months. In the second instance, a 74-year-old player was allowed to deposit £9,379 over an eight-day period, with no responsible gambling checks taking place. IMME’s money laundering failings include allowing one individual, who was 100 years old at the time the Commission’s review started, to bet £23,839 in just five months. The player’s deposits more than doubled from £2,992 in September 2018 to £6,090 in October 2018 and continued to rise but IMME did not obtain source of funds evidence, despite this being a requirement of all licensees. In addition, the UKGC found that IMME knew that two of its top depositors were retired postmen but, despite this knowledge, allowed one to bet £20,345 in five months and another to bet £16,207 in six months without obtaining further information to support that level of spend. Despite the weight of evidence identified in the review, IMME decided to challenge officials’ preliminary decision at a Regulatory Panel hearing, which was scheduled to take place on 28 October 2021. However, on 22 September 2021, IMME surrendered its operating licence rather than face a panel hearing. UKGC executive director Helen Venn was unflinching in her criticism of the firm, sounding a warning to other operators not to engage in similar tactics. “We will not tolerate gambling businesses behaving in the way IMME did,” Venn said. “Gambling operators in Britain must follow our social responsibility and anti-money laundering rules, and a failure to do this will lead to us taking tough action. “We suspended IMME’s licence following initial concerns and – having delved even deeper into the business’s activities – discovered failures that would have inevitably led to complete licence revocation had the operator not surrendered it. “There is no room in Britain’s gambling industry for operators who fail in the way IMME have,” she added.