Ladbrokes-owner Entain may face penalty from UK tax authority
(Reuters) -Ladbrokes-owner Entain Plc said on Wednesday it was likely to incur a "substantial financial penalty" as part of an investigation by Britain's tax authority into issues including possible misconduct involving former third-party suppliers.
Entain, formerly known as GVC Holdings, said it was in deferred prosecution agreement talks with the Crown Prosecution Service and was working towards resolving the issue.
The gambling firm said the investigation included a review of its former Turkish-facing business and added that historical misconduct involving former third-party suppliers and ex-employees of the group may have occurred.
Problematic practises in Britain's multi-billion pound gambling industry have forced the regulator the Gambling Commission to impose several large fines in recent years. Entain was fined 17 million pounds ($21.5 million) in 2022.
"While the company cannot say at this stage what the consequences of the investigation will be, it is likely that they will include a substantial financial penalty which is yet to be determined," the company said in a statement.
In 2019, Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had asked Entain's unit to provide information on its former Turkish-facing online betting and gaming business, which the London-listed group sold in 2017, while investigating a number of former third-party suppliers relating to the processing of payments for online betting and gaming in Turkey.
HMRC in 2020 widened the scope of its investigation by looking into any potential corporate offending by entities within the group.
($1 = 0.7923 pounds)
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
