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About Bigger Cash Crab
Anthony Lee’s senior campaigning role gave him access to confidential discussions about the election timing. Rather than keeping that information confidential, he placed bets and passed it to his wife. She then used the information to place her own bets.
UK operators already carry out enhanced checks on politically exposed persons (PEPs), but this case shows the limits of those safeguards, Bethan Lloyd, partner at law firm Wiggin, recently told iGB.
“PEP status does not prevent someone from gambling,” Lloyd explained. She said PEPs are entitled to bet, but not on events where inside information gives them an unfair advantage.
About Bigger Cash Crab
Nor are regulatory breaches unique to gambling. Waugh notes that Tesco was fined more than £8 million for food hygiene failings in 2021, without parliamentarians demanding that it should be prevented from selling cornflakes.
“There are valid arguments to be made in relation to raising the barriers to licensing, but this may come at a cost of diminishing competition and entrepreneurship,” he says.
In any event, successive regulatory tightening and tax increases have already created a “reasonably effective deterrent” to market entry.
About Bigger Cash Crab
Blok called for more decisive immediate action, saying: “The government must act now through criminal prosecutions by the Public Prosecution Service, alongside measures taken by regulators and licensed operators.
“Tackling illegal gambling requires joint responsibility from banks, payment providers and hosting services who facilitate these platforms.”
The lottery operator also criticised government proposals for a blanket advertising ban on licensed online gambling providers in June. It argued such restrictions could inadvertently drive more players towards unregulated, illegal platforms.