Gibraltar is penalizing one of the country’s leading online casinos Onisac, for failure to implement Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) regulations on its gaming site. Onisac, which Mansion Group owns, will pay USD 1.14 million in fines for various irregularities.

According to the Gibraltar Gambling Commission, a routine onsite inspection of the facilities at Onisac led to the discovery of irregularities on many counts, with AML non-compliance being the “chief offense.”

Battle of wits

The Gambling Commission had warned Onisac about irregularities in AML processes nearly two years ago, in 2020 itself. However, the top management at the casino group had turned a deaf ear to the regulator’s directives.

The result of the continued disregard of warnings suggesting that the regulator establishes adequate AML processes has now resulted in this hefty fine.

Stringent GGC against Brexit money laundering

Gibraltar, the gateway to Europe from Africa, is a tourism-based economy. Gambling is also major commerce here, with many casino operators dotting the city line. Currently, it has a supportive iGaming environment, and operators are contributing to the thriving industry.

Though a United Kingdom-ruled area, Gibraltar can maintain economic autonomy by setting liberal gambling tax rules.

However, regulatory surveillance is very stringent, and there are constant ‘inspections’ by the Gambling Commission for compliance with its regulations. In addition, non-abiding operators are fined heavily due to Brexit.

Gibraltar’s Financial Services Commission has been very rigorous since 2020 in conducting AML checks. Their continued inspection resulted in over USD 3.3 million being issued.

Lack of proper AML processes

In the case of Onisac, the Gambling Commission alleges that there was an intentional failure in implementing AML regulatory processes even though AML compliance is one of the most critical regulations that the country’s gambling operators need to set up given the Brexit influence.

The Commission accused the management of Onisac of ‘blatantly’ and “perhaps willfully” flaunting the GGC’s rules. It was very casual and not very strict with the protocol that an operator needs to follow for players outside the European Union and the UK. This resulted in many customer accounts being red-flagged for AML.