Tennessee Regulator Suspends Action 24/7 For Money Laundering
Action 24/7 was the first online sportsbook to launch operations in Tennessee. The sportsbook claimed to be the first Tennessee owned sportsbook and was looking to make a big splash in the market.
Action 24/7 ended up making a big splash in the market but for all the wrong reasons. The sportsbook has the unenviable distinction of become the first online regulated sportsbook in America to be officially suspended either temporarily or permanently.
Action 24/7 Multiple Breaches
The Tennessee Education Lottery (TEL) which is the gaming regulator in the state was made aware of multiple violations at Action 24/7. Those violations were brought to the attention of the gaming watchdog by Action 24/7 after it discovered that credit card fraud and out of state betting was carried out through its betting site.
The credit card fraud took place via one registered player who made an initial $10 deposit with their credit card but soon after carried out a total of 120 deposits using credit cards that did not have their name. Tennessee regulations only allow bettors to deposit funds via a payment method that has their exact name on it.
This individual made these credit card deposits, carried out minimal wagering to meet the sites requirements and then cashed out. Danny DiRienzo, who is an investigator for TEL said that this is typical credit card fraud case and one of the methods used for money laundering.
The second breach involved more than 40 users being able to register at Action 24/7 and place bets even though they were not in Tennessee. Gaming regulations make it mandatory for users to be physically present within the boundaries of Tennessee in order for them to register a sports betting account.
Action 24/7 is supposed to have geo-location software in place that prevent out of state bettors from opening accounts. However, those protocols did not work and the sportsbook breached gaming regulations yet again.
TEL Suspends Betting License
Action 24/7 came to know of these violations on March 9, 2021 but did not take immediate action. The management waited for 8 days before making a decision to report these breaches to TEL. The delay in reporting by Action 24/7 is yet another breach in regulations and TEL decided that they needed to suspend the sportsbook’s betting license immediately.
TEL stated that based on these compliance breaches, it is clear that Action 24/7 does not have the proper protocols and security systems in place to prevent this from happening again. We will have to wait and see whether Action 24/7 gets its license back or is suspended permanently.