(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Gambling Supervision Authority, which conducted the inspection, imposed a fine of 341 thousand euros on the Tete-a-tete casino company on 18 December for initially not verifying the origin of client funds, and later doing so improperly.
The Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (hereinafter referred to as the Law) obliges gambling operators to monitor the behavior of their customers and ensure that the amounts wagered correspond to the information available about the customer and that the sources of funds are justified. Continuous monitoring of the customer's business relationships is a necessary measure for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Gambling Supervision Service found that UAB Tete-a-tete Casino did not verify the origin of the client's funds for some time, although it was obliged to do so. Finally, the client received a request to substantiate his income for 2021-2023. However, in 2023, the client no longer deposited money - he gambled from previously deposited amounts. Therefore, the client did not indicate the source of income. Then UAB Tete-a-tete Casino terminated the remote gambling contract with the client, citing the fact that he did not provide an explanation about the source of funds. The client filed a complaint with the Gambling Supervision Service, which found that the contract was terminated unreasonably. A fine was also imposed for this violation.
An unscheduled special inspection of the company found that it did not ensure constant monitoring of the client's business relations, and there was no sufficient legal basis for terminating the contract. Violations of two provisions of the law were identified.
Failure to monitor a client's business relationships is considered a serious violation. The maximum fine for this is up to 1.1 million euros. UAB "Tete-a-tete" casino was fined a total of 341,049 euros for the violations found.
The Supervisory Authority organizes training for gambling and lottery organizers every year to strengthen their competencies in the field of money laundering and terrorist financing prevention, has adopted mandatory instructions aimed at preventing money laundering and/or terrorist financing, and provides both individual and general consultations on the implementation of the aforementioned instructions and the law.
Decisions made by the Supervisory Authority are not final and may be appealed in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on Administrative Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania.