BetMGM Hit With $100,000 Fine In Pennsylvania

BetMGM got thwacked with a $100,000 fine by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) Wednesday for failure to “prevent fraudulent behavior” on its BetMGM and Borgata sites. The fine is the result of a consent agreement between the operator and the board.

Specifically, the “fraudulent behavior” centered around know-your-customer violations, use of multiple accounts by people using others’ IDs and information, and the funding of accounts obtained by using stolen payment devices. It was not made clear whether these were sportsbook accounts or online casino accounts.

The consent agreement identified four separate fraud rings. Per the release, they:

1. operated for approximately 25 months until January 2024 with 1,567 accounts created using personal identifying information of other individuals and $229,580 of combined wagering;

2. operated for approximately 34 months until November 2024 with 34 accounts created using personal identifying information of other individuals and over $14,598 of combined wagering;

3. operated for approximately 29 months until November 2023 with 119 accounts created using personal identifying information of other individuals and $895,092 of combined wagering;

4. operated for approximately 19 months until December 2023 with 304 accounts created using personal identifying information of other individuals and $867,910 of combined wagering.

PGCB also bans four for unattended minors

In addition to the consent agreement above, the PGCB also placed 16 people on the state’s various involuntary exclusion lists, including four people banned from casinos for leaving unattended minors in the parking lots of various casinos.

That includes a male gambler who left his 11-year-old in the Hollywood Casino York lot for 52 minutes while he played slots and table games, a male patron at Rivers Casino Philadelphia who left a 5-year-old in the car to play some tables games and place some bets for 17 minutes, a male customer who left a 9-year-old in the car for over an hour at Rivers Casino Philadelphia, and another man who left 12- and 7-year-olds at Parx for a half-hour while he played the slots.

In addition to the four above, 12 others were placed on the involuntary lists for “various actions.”

This brings the total number of banned gamblers in the state to 1,515.

Emails to BetMGM officials were not returned as of publication.