The UK Gambling Commission has issued a £650,000 financial penalty and a formal warning to Videoslots—now operating under the Immense Group name—after uncovering what it described as substantial shortcomings in both anti-money laundering protections and safer gambling oversight. The enforcement action also requires the operator, which runs videoslots.co.uk, mrvegas.com, and megariches.com, to complete an independent audit examining the effectiveness of its controls.

According to the UKGC’s investigation, which focused on activity from October 2023 through February 2024, Videoslots relied heavily on automated customer-monitoring tools that failed to identify high-risk behavior or signs of gambling-related harm. The regulator’s findings emphasize that these automated systems applied deposit limits across calendar months rather than assessing a customer’s actual starting point.

This structural flaw produced repeated issues. One customer lost £5,000 in a single month despite a £3,000 internal threshold. Another managed to lose £5,000 in under 24 hours under the same nominal limit. A third player lost £7,500 over an 18-day span despite having a £2,000 monthly limit. Additionally, the Commission noted a case in which a customer lost £6,550 over three active days across two months without receiving any meaningful interaction from the operator, despite what were described as clear indicators of harm.

Commission officials also highlighted deficiencies in Videoslots’ AML framework. Investigators found gaps in procedures, failures in record-keeping, and an excessive dependence on an algorithm that did not reliably flag suspicious behavior. A particularly striking example involved a customer who deposited more than £75,000 through prepaid digital vouchers within 16 days and then moved gambling proceeds to four different bank accounts—sometimes while accessing the platform from outside Great Britain. Despite multiple red flags, the operator’s automated scoring did not trigger timely enhanced due diligence.

UKGC director of enforcement John Pierce cautioned that open-loop prepaid voucher systems raise elevated risks because such transactions may involve anonymous funds or be linked to credit or cryptocurrency payments. “Operators must review how open-loop payment systems such as prepaid digital vouchers are managed in a gambling environment because they are high risk and present operational challenges in terms of effective monitoring,” Pierce said according to the official UKGC press release.

CEO Challenges Elements of the Commission’s Findings

Videoslots CEO Alexander Stevendahl publicly responded on LinkedIn, expressing concern that several important clarifications provided to the Commission were not included in the final report. He emphasized that the company had collaborated “closely and constructively” with UKGC officials throughout the process and had already implemented all requested improvements.

Stevendahl disputed the suggestion that Videoslots breached customer deposit limits, asserting that “no customer exceeded their self-set deposit limit.” He explained that internal thresholds were meant to trigger checks before a user approached their own limit. For example, a player with a £2,000 limit might activate an internal review at £500 or £1,000 while still remaining under their actual self-imposed cap. Although the UKGC preferred a different methodological approach—now adopted by the company—Stevendahl argued that describing the issue as a limit breach “may cause unnecessary confusion.”

He also noted that one of the AML concerns highlighted in the decision had been detected and reported by Videoslots itself before the assessment began. While acknowledging the Commission’s authority to publish the case, he said that offering full context would create a more accurate representation of the circumstances.

His statement, he added, aimed only “to clarify the facts and prevent any misunderstandings,” stressing the importance of transparency between regulators and operators for long-term industry stability.

Next Steps: Audit and Increased Reporting Expectations

Alongside the financial penalty and warning, the Commission imposed an additional license condition requiring a comprehensive third-party audit of the company’s AML and safer gambling controls. United Kingdom regulators reported that Videoslots cooperated throughout the investigation and responded quickly to identified issues.

The UKGC also reminded all operators using open-loop or digital voucher payment systems that they must report such usage as a key event if not already doing so. Updated guidance related to emerging money-laundering and terrorist-financing risks has also been issued, and Videoslots’ compliance improvements will continue to be monitored over the coming months.