Australian Gambling – LADBROKES has strongly refuted claims made by UK newspaper The Guardian that it turned a blind eye to illegal activity.
Paul Pearce, an ex-employee of Ladbrokes, contacted The Guardian after it published an article claiming fixed-odds betting terminals (FOTD) were used across the country to launder money.
Pearce claimed the UK’s biggest bookmaker told staff “not to mention the words “children”, “smashed” and “money laundering” in company documents for fear of exposing the scale of underage gambling and criminality in betting shops” and that the emergence of FOBTs in 2001 has meant the sector is “riddled with commercial conflicts.”
“The industry changed overnight. In my view it became immoral,” Pearce said.
“You had shop managers who got paid a bonus or commission for increasing takings. So, tell me, would you stop a punter from putting in thousands of pounds of cash into a machine when your pay depends on it?”
In response, Ladbrokes strongly stipulated its policy on such matters, denying any wrong-doing.
