Entain to pay £585m after bribery investigation

Industry giant Entain has received more tough news this week， announcing it has agreed to pay a financial penalty plus disgorgement of profits totaling £585m ($737.4m) over its legacy Turkish business in relation to activities of former third-party suppliers and former employees of the group. 

This comes after alleged offences under Section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 and the failure of the company to have adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery.

The operator had previously set the sum aside but has now confirmed it will pay the amount.

Entain will also make a charitable donation of £20m and to pay a contribution of £10m to HMRC and the CPS’ costs.

Chairman of Entain， Barry Gibson， said: "This legacy matter concerns a business which was sold by a former management team six years ago. The Group has changed immeasurably since these events took place， and the DPA process has provided a reminder of the stark differences between the GVC of yesterday and the Entain of today.

"We are committed to continuing our journey towards operating only in regulated markets，Free games and are now widely recognised as a best-in-class， responsible operator with the highest levels of corporate governance across all aspects of our business." 

The company will make a further announcement on the matter after the hearing on 5 December 2023 and details of the final Deferred Prosecution Agreement will be provided at the appropriate time. 

Yesterday， it was reported that Entain “remain confident in our ability to deliver on [the] significant growth opportunities，” and that it is “committed to constructively addressing any questions or concerns that they may have.”