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

5 December 2023

ByEsyllt Carr
Business reporter, BBC News

Gambling giant Entain will pay HMRC ₤ 585m to settle over bribery claims relating to a Turkish company that it previously 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 costs of the case.

Its chairman added that the group had actually "profoundly changed" given that the sale.

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

The arrangement permits a prosecution to be suspended for a defined period supplied the organisation satisfies particular specific conditions.

DPAs can be used for fraud, bribery and other economic criminal activity. They apply to organisations, never people. the yohaig code DPA is one of the biggest corporate criminal settlements ever reached in the UK and the first for the CPS.

Entain will likewise make a contribution of ₤ 10m towards the costs sustained by HMRC and the Crown Prosecution Service throughout the case.

The investigation by HMRC involved a Turkish-facing business that was offered by the Group in 2017. The probe involved the activities of previous workers and previous 3rd party providers.

In specific, it was taking a look at allegations that Entain, which was then called GVC, failed to have appropriate procedures in place to prevent bribery.

Since then, Entain says the group has carried out a comprehensive evaluation of its anti-bribery policies and procedures.

In a declaration, Barry Gibson, Entain's chairman, said: "this promotion code is the last step in a procedure that has actually hung over our company since HMRC launched its investigation into an organization that was sold by a former management group six years back."

"We have actually co-operated thoroughly and proactively at every stage of the procedure which, I am happy to state, has been recognised by the Court," he included.

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

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