🔒 🔒 Mediation continues ahead of landmark AUSTRAC Federal Court case against Entain

Mediation remains ongoing between financial crimes regulator AUSTRAC and Entain, the parent company of Ladbrokes and Neds, with a key meeting in September aimed at avoiding a 10-day Federal Court case scheduled for later this year.

While the legal process and preparation continues ahead of what would be a landmark hearing, slated to begin before Justice Cameron Moore on November 30, Entain revealed in its most recent financial report that the two parties were still in mediation.

Entain and AUSTRAC first participated in a confidential mediation process on July 30, 2025. According to the company, neither party has sought to terminate that process, and discussions remain ongoing. A further meeting between Entain, AUSTRAC and the mediator is expected at the end of September.

In the meantime, final subpoena documents are expected to be filed this week, while a case management hearing ahead of a trial is scheduled on October 1.

Should the matter head to court, both parties face consequences far beyond just the cost of proceedings.

In what would be a landmark prosecution, Entain faces possible fines in the hundreds of millions if found to have breached anti-money laundering laws over a six-year period from December 2018 to August 2024.

The global company made a provision in its previous accounts for $100 million in fines, but had confirmed that is only an accounting measure and is not an indication of the scale of the fine it expects to receive.

It reiterated that belief in its latest financial report, released last Thursday.

“In the previous financial reporting period, the AUSTRAC proceedings were recorded as a provision of AUD$100m, with reference to previous penalties ordered in proceedings against entities in the gaming sector, which ranged from AUD$45m to AUD$450m,” it said.

“The provision was recognised based on the information available at that time, noting considerable estimation uncertainty and a wide range of possible outcomes.

“As part of the preparation of these interim financial statements, the Directors have considered the status of the AUSTRAC proceedings and have concluded that, in the absence of substantive developments that would change the Directors’ previous assessment it is appropriate to maintain the provision recognised at 31 December 2025 of AUD$100m.

“Although a provision has been recognised, there remains considerable uncertainty in relation to the outcome of the matter and a wide range of possible penalties.”

However, AUSTRAC is also taking a risk in what would amount to the strongest legal test of its powers under the AML-CTF Act.

It is the first time AUSTRAC has brought civil penalty proceedings against businesses operating in the online betting sector.

In a statement issued last October, Entain Australia and New Zealand chief executive Andrew Vouris said the company continued to dispute a number of significant allegations and interpretations in AUSTRAC’s statement of claim.

AUSTRAC’s amended case centres on the use of 17 “high-risk” accounts, with Entain saying in its defence that it had closed those accounts before legal proceedings commenced, and some as far back as 2020.

AUSTRAC’s investigation found Entain allowed those high-risk customers to spend more than $152 million without appropriate checks and controls.

Entain has said it had fully cooperated with AUSTRAC’s investigation, which was first announced in September 2022.

“Entain has fundamentally transformed its approach to compliance and now operates a market-leading program, underpinned by a compliance-first culture – to ‘win, but not at all costs’,”  Vouris said at the time.

Entain made a raft of major changes after AUSTRAC commenced civil penalty proceedings in December 2024. Vouris took over as managing director of the Australian and New Zealand aspect of the business in June 2025.  

Changes made during that time are starting to bear fruit for the global giant, which reported a 13 per cent growth in Australian revenue in the first half of 2026, compared to the same period in 2025.