Entain to pay £615 million after court approval for agreement following HMRC bribery investigation

The parent company of Ladbrokes and Coral has received final court approval on Tuesday to pay a penalty of £585 million following an investigation into alleged bribery at its former Turkish business.

In all Entain will pay £615m including a charitable donation of £20 million and a contribution of £10 million to the costs of HMRC and the Crown Prosecution Service having entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA).

Entain's chairman Barry Gibson described it as the "final step" of the investigation which first came to light in 2019 when HMRC requested information regarding the Turkish-facing business held between 2011 and 2017 by GVC Holdings – now known as Entain.

The DPA, Entain said, related to alleged offences under Section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 and, in particular, a failure by the company "to have adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery".

Entain added that the court had applied a full discount to the financial penalty in recognition of the company's "exemplary" co-operation with HMRC and the CPS.

Gibson said: "This is the final step in a process that has hung over our business since HMRC launched its investigation into a business that was sold by a former management team six years ago.

"We have co-operated extensively and proactively at every stage of the process which, I am pleased to say, has been recognised by the court. Entain has now fundamentally and profoundly changed. We can now concentrate on the future."

Judge Dame Victoria Sharp, who presided over the case, said in a summary of judgement that Entain was now "effectively a different entity from that which committed the offence" and that there had been a "wholesale change of senior management and approach and an acknowledgment by Entain that it was necessary to overhaul its culture and practices".

Chief crown prosecutor Andrew Penhale said the court had concluded there had been "sweeping changes to the company’s compliance procedures, and that Entain is committed to the promotion of open and transparent gambling operations and improvement of its corporate governance".

He added: "The wider gaming industry may wish to reflect on the implications of this agreement for their own corporate compliance procedures and, where appropriate, take action to address and report any failings they identify.

"The CPS will continue to work closely with law enforcement partners in this area, such as HMRC, as well as the industry regulator, the Gambling Commission."

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