Ladbrokes and Coral owner to pay ₤ 585m over bribery claims

5 December 2023

ByEsyllt Carr
Business press reporter, BBC News

Gambling giant Entain will pay HMRC ₤ 585m to settle over bribery accusations connecting to a Turkish firm that it formerly owned.

The settlement was approved by the Royal Courts of Justice in a hearing on Tuesday.

Entain, which owns Ladbrokes, will also make a charitable donation of ₤ 20m and pay towards the expenses of the case.

Its chairman included that the group had "exceptionally altered" since the sale.

The payments become part of a postponed prosecution contract (DPA), that will be made in instalments over the next 4 years.

The agreement enables a prosecution to be suspended for a specified duration supplied the organisation satisfies specific specific conditions.

DPAs can be used for scams, bribery and other financial criminal activity. They apply to organisations, never individuals. The DPA is among the most significant business criminal settlements ever reached in the UK and the very first for the CPS.

Entain will also make a contribution of ₤ 10m towards the costs incurred by HMRC and the Crown Prosecution Service during the case.

The examination by HMRC included a Turkish-facing company that was offered by the Group in 2017. The probe included the activities of previous employees and former 3rd party suppliers.

In specific, it was looking at accusations that Entain, which was then understood as GVC, failed to have adequate treatments in place to prevent bribery.

Since then, Entain states the group has carried out an extensive review of its anti-bribery policies and treatments.

In a declaration, Barry Gibson, Entain's chairman, stated: "this promotion code is the final step in a procedure that has actually hung over our company considering that HMRC introduced its examination into a company that was sold by a previous management group 6 years back."

"We have actually co-operated thoroughly and proactively at every phase of the yohaig code procedure which, I am happy to state, has actually been acknowledged by the Court," he added.

"Entain has now essentially and exceptionally altered. We can now focus on the future."

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