Betfred has been told to pay £3.25 [$4.24] million by the industry regulator after an investigation revealed social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. The Gambling Commission said the bookmaker, founded by billionaire Salford brothers Fred and Peter Done, breached licence conditions between January 2021 and December 2022.
The firm runs 1,750 high street betting shops, as well as a website and an app. The Gambling Commission investigation found Betfred had insufficient controls in place to protect new customers, or to monitor ‘high velocity spend’ and duration of play.
It also made assumptions that customers were not at risk of harm because they were winning, and failed to carry out any safer gambling interactions on one customer who staked £517,499 over a two-month period.
