The UK Gambling Commission continues to keep a close eye on the online casino market. This week, the regulator revealed that online gaming operator Videoslot Limited has been hit with a fine over systematic anti-money laundering and safer gambling controls failures.
The Malta-based company, which runs the licensed sites videoslots.co.uk, mrvegas.com, and megariches.com, has also received a formal warning from the regulator. As a result of the disciplinary action, the brand must also go through an extensive independent third-party audit to ensure that its procedures are fully compliant.
In its statement, the Commission explained that the two-year investigation of the operator concluded this November and found several discrepancies in the operator’s customer protection policies and AML framework.
Safer Gambling Systems are “Ineffective in Practice”
In its inquiry, the UKGC discovered that Videoslot put too much trust in its automated monitoring tools, which essentially failed to identify gambling harm in real time.
One of the main issues was the design of the company’s monthly deposit limit system. Limits were applied on a rigid calendar-month basis. However, they did not cover a user’s initial deposit made just after signing up. This ultimately created a loophole that allowed several players to exceed their limits in short periods of time.
Some examples from the regulator include:
- A player who wagered and lost £5,000 within a single calendar month despite having a £3,000 monthly deposit limit in place.
- Another user lost £5,000 in less than a day while having the same £3,000 monthly limit.
- A third customer lost £7,500 in the span of just 18 days despite a £2,000 monthly deposit ceiling.
- Another individual who lost £6,550 across three highly active gambling days within a two-month period, without getting any preventative interaction from Videoslots staff.
Overall, the gambling watchdog came to the conclusion that the operator’s systems did not adequately monitor user activity to spot harm or potential issues related to problem gambling.
Over-Reliance on a Flawed System
When it comes to anti-money laundering protocols, the Commission’s investigators discovered gaps in the operator’s policies, including weak record-keeping, and most importantly, an over-reliance on an automated risk-scoring system. According to the regulator, this algorithm proved to be unreliable when it had to detect real player activities and behaviour.
In one of the most alarming cases, a customer made a deposit worth over £75,000 in digital pre-payment vouchers in just around 16 days. The user gambled heavily and then withdrew the proceeds to four separate bank accounts. The same account was occasionally accessed from outside Great Britain, which is considered a red flag.
Still, despite flashing multiple high-risk indicators, the use of large sums of prepaid vouchers, quick deposit-withdrawal requests, and several destination log-ins, the operator’s automated system displayed an AML risk score below the threshold that would have initiated enhanced due diligence or a request for the source of funds.
Videoslot eventually reviewed the suspicious activity, but it concluded that the funds were simply recycled winnings. However, the commission found that the operator did not provide any supporting evidence to support this claim.
In addition to that, a second high-volume user was similarly allowed to continue gambling. The casino brand again assumed that it was a case of recycled winning, instead of conducting thorough checks or interacting with the consumer directly.
Commission Warns about Digital Vouchers
The Gambling Commission’s Director of Enforcement, John Pierce, labelled the recently discovered breaches as “unacceptable” and highlighted the potential risks of open-loop prepaid digital vouchers.
Pierce explained that the regulator’s investigation found a serious case where prepaid digital vouchers were used for gambling without proper oversight or early intervention.
“Open-loop payment systems are high risk in nature because they could enable anonymous deposits and make it harder to trace funds. In this case, the licensee failed to implement timely customer interactions and did not conduct enhanced due diligence until the customer had reached significant spend thresholds.”
He also stressed that the use of digital vouchers purchased with credit cards or cryptocurrency via third-party websites comes with “operational challenges” for both safer gambling and AML monitoring.
Vouchers Are Still Allowed
Despite the recent findings, the regulator has not yet banned such payment methods. However, the Commission has updated its public guidance and requires operators that accept similar open-loop digital card or voucher schemes to report this immediately. Operators have also been advised to get familiar with the Commission’s October 2025 document, Emerging money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
Remedial Action and Ongoing Oversight
Following the regulatory action from the Commission, Videoslots has made a number of changes and has paid the £650,000 fine in full.
Still, the operator will remain under scrutiny, and the upcoming independent review must demonstrate that all required improvements have been implemented effectively across all channels.
“Alongside the financial penalty and the necessary steps already taken by Videoslots to address our findings, the operator must also complete an independent audit, and we will monitor the outcome of this closely,” concluded Pierce.
The enforcement action serves as yet another reminder to the online sector that automated systems alone are not enough for rigorous, evidence-based oversight of both player protection and anti-money laundering obligations.
