Daily Mail - 01.08.2019

(Jacob Rumans) #1

Page 28 Daily Mail, Thursday, August 1, 2019


Betting firm allowed addict


to blow £1.5m of stolen cash


By Tom Witherow


THE country’s biggest


gambling firm was yester-


day fined almost £6million
for a litany of failings.
These included allowing an
addict to blow £1.5million of
stolen money on its bets.
The industry regulator hit Lad-
brokes Coral with a record
£5.9million penalty for its ‘sys-
temic failure’ to protect vulnera-
ble customers and prevent
money laundering. In the most


serious example, Coral failed to
check how a customer was fund-
ing a £1.5million gambling habit.
The firm did not ask if they
could afford the sum, which was
spent over three years, even
though the customer showed
signs of addiction including log-

ging in to their online account
ten times a day and losing up to
£64,000 a month.
In another case, a customer lost
£98,000 with Ladbrokes despite
their bank declining 460 attempts
to pay money into their gambling
account – a clear sign they

might not be able to afford their
losses. In a third case, the book-
maker failed to check if one of its
customers had a gambling problem
after they made £140,000 of deposits
in the first four months of their
account being open.
Ladbrokes’ initial approach to the
problems was to designate fewer
customers as high risk, rather than
improve its response, the Gambling
Commission said.
It found seven serious cases in
which Ladbrokes and Coral cus-
tomers’ addiction had led to crimi-
nal or suspected criminal behaviour
between 2014 and 2017.
The failures detailed yesterday
took place before the group’s owner
GVC bought Ladbrokes Coral for

systemic failings at a large operator,
which resulted in consumers
being harmed and stolen money
flowing though the business. This
is unacceptable.’
The tactics used by Ladbrokes
Coral to encourage vulnerable gam-
blers to lose vast sums were laid
bare in court earlier this year.
Steven Girling, 36, from Norwich,
was jailed for four years after he
stole £1million from his employer to
fund his gambling.
He said Ladbrokes Coral and two
other firms had wooed him to carry
on betting with VIP tickets and lux-
ury trips to top events, even though
he was addicted.
The freebies allowed him and his
wife Rashael, 42, to live like million-
aires, drinking champagne at five-
star hotels in Dubai and entertain-
ing friends at races including Royal
Ascot, the Derby and the Chelten-
ham Gold Cup.
The father-of-two said his addic-
tive behaviour was never questioned
despite the vast sums he was spend-
ing online on slot machines and
roulette between 2014 and 2017.
In reality much of the money was
stolen from his employer Premier
Education Group, Norwich Crown
Court heard.
His case was reported to the Gam-
bling Commission last year but the
regulator yesterday refused to con-
firm whether it was included in the
enforcement action.
As part of the settlement, GVC
will pay £4.8million to responsible
gambling treatment and research,
and give £1.1million to ‘affected par-
ties’ including victims of crime.
The regulator, which has the
power to sack directors in the most
serious cases, will now review the
roles of senior staff in the breaches.
GVC’s chief executive Kenny
Alexander said: ‘These historical
failings were unacceptable and
since the acquisition I have over-
seen a systematic review of
the enlarged group’s player protec-
tion procedures.’

£3.2billion in March last year. The
fine pales in comparison with the
international conglomerate’s 2018
operating profit of £600million, from
a revenue of £2.9billion.
Adam Bradford, co-founder the
Safer Online Gambling Group, said:
‘The fine is a drop in the ocean for
any gambling company. A multi-
billion-pound industry will not be
corrected by a punitive fine.
‘Funds checking should be a non-
negotiable part of how betting com-
panies do business.’
Richard Watson, the regulator’s
executive director, said: ‘These were

STOP THE


GAMBLING


PREDATORS


CAMPAIGN


Ladbrokes fined record £6m for failing to


help gambler – or stop money laundering


Look, no hands! The


bike that rides itself


WE already have driverless cars,
but scientists have now created
a self-cycling bicycle.
Perfect for the wobbly cyclist, it
keeps itself upright, spots speed
bumps and automatically swerves
around obstacles.
Just like voice-operated assistant
Alexa, it responds to commands to
speed up, slow down and turn left or
right. It was created by researchers
at Tsinghua University in Beijing,
using a small artificial intelligence
chip mounted on the back wheel.
The Chinese researchers use a
gyroscope to measure the bicycle’s
stability to keep it upright and a
camera to detect obstacles in its
path. A microphone picks up
voice commands from the rider
and a speed sensor detects how fast
it is going.
Professor Will Stewart, of the
Institution of Engineering and
Technology, who was not involved
in the study, said: ‘This is a fascinat-
ing example of a multi-purpose pro-
grammable AI chip, cleverly demon-
strating the many functions needed
to operate a bicycle.
‘It is controlling the balance,
understanding what is in front of

the bicycle, and steering too. It is a
step forward in making artificial
intelligence that much more useful
for our everyday lives.’
A study on the bicycle, published
in the journal Nature, suggests
it is perfect for cross-country trips,
being able to track a cyclist in front
and follow them in a straight line.
In a video on YouTube, the rider-
less bike can be seen travelling over
a speed bump and avoiding traffic
cones. It appears to be driven by an
electric motor.
A researcher walking next to it
simply orders it to speed up, go left
or in a straight line, which it does
using its audio sensor and motor.
Nick Chamberlin of British Cycling
said: ‘We are very interested to see
what benefits AI technology might
have to help more people enjoy the
benefits of bike riding, especially
the elderly and people living with
life-limiting illness or disability.
‘New technology means that for
the first time in a generation the
future of mobility is exciting.’

By Victoria Allen
Science Correspondent
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