Australia's financial crime regulator has opened an investigation into bet365 after obtaining an external audit report, Reuters reported Thursday.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) ordered an audit of bet365 in November 2022 to audit potential money laundering breaches.
“Businesses without adequate processes in place to manage those risks leave themselves vulnerable to exploitation by criminals,” said AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas.
Online sports betting has surged in Australia since 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced physical storefronts to shut due to lockdowns.
bet365 did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
According to Financial Times, AUSTRAC ordered bet365’s operations in Australia to appoint external auditors in 2022 at its own cost in a move that was said to put the gambling sector on notice about the watchdog’s emphasis on compliance and protecting the integrity of Australia’s financial system.
Financial Times also reported that Entain was also probed over compliance with anti-money laundering back in 2022. Major lenders Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia were hit with large fines from AUSTRAC for breaches of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws in recent years, too, according to BBC.
These legal woes come as bet365 continues rapid expansion within the U.S. legal sports betting industry, launching in Arizona and Indiana already in 2024. It will be one of the major online sportsbooks in North Carolina when that new market launches next week.
