The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has brought $212,500 in fines against two casino operators.
The Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel (OEC) announced and confirmed the charges.
Operators fined
Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing, responsible for the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, faced two separate fines that added up to $147,500. The other operator to be fined was Sugarhouse HSP Gaming, taking home a charge of $65,000.
Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing was charged for not having the proper protocols in place to stop fraudsters from creating, accessing, and using multiple accounts on Penn Interactive’s iGaming and sports betting platforms. The platform was vulnerable to people using the personal identification documents of other individuals to create accounts and the withdrawal and staking of bets using stolen or fraudulently obtained devices.
A $97,500 fine was placed on the operator for not having the checks and balances to avoid such illegal and fraudulent behavior.
The casino and sports betting provider would also face a separate fine of $50,000 for three incidents involving minors under the age of 21 being able to access the gaming floor.
Sugarhouse HSP Gaming would be assessed, and a $65,000 fine was decided upon for two separate incidents. The operator failed to notify the Pennsylvania State Police and the Gaming Control Board of a voucher theft and also failed to meet the correct staffing requirements for a period of 40 days.
The Board would also act on petitions filed by the OEC for the potential banning of three adults from all Commonwealth casinos for engaging in gambling activities whilst minors were abandoned.
The Involuntary Exclusion List of the PGCB would see three individuals added to it.
One man was placed for leaving a 9-year-old unattended in a vehicle with an outside in the parking lot of Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie County.
A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving three children, ages 4, 7, and 12, unattended in the parking lot of Presque Isle Downs, and another female patron would be added after leaving a 12-year-old unattended in a vehicle at the valet entrance at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course.
PGCB reiterated via the statement that “leaving minors unattended at a Pennsylvania casino also subjects the offending adult to criminal prosecution in addition to exclusion from all Pennsylvania casinos” and has created a campaign to help bring awareness to the issue.
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