Isle of Man Regulator Slaps £200,000 Fine on Maverick Games Owner Over AML Mess

Key Points

• The Isle of Man regulator found Shelgeyr Limited guilty of some pretty serious AML/CFT breaches under the Gambling (AML/CFT) Code of 2019 and hit them with a £200,000 fine.
• The probe found major failures in due diligence, monitoring, governance, and AML staff oversight.
• The fine reflected cooperation, while the regulator stressed strong board-level compliance responsibility.

The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission hit Shelgeyr Ltd with a £200,000 fine issued outside of set rules after discovering they had fallen well short in the area of anti-money-laundering & anti-terror financing rules. The troubled company, based on the Isle of Man, is the parent of an online gaming site Maverick Games. It’s a big deal since investigators had uncovered serious issues in this area & a routine regulatory inspection turned up numerous clear examples of Shelgeyr Ltd not following procedure to the letter, as spelt out in the Gambling (Anti-Money Laundering & Countering the Financing of Terrorism) Code 2019. So, on February 6th 2026 a public announcement was made by the Commission, which had been looking into this after a review that turned up these infractions. The statement was dropped under a section of the Gambling Act of 2018 (Anti-Money Laundering & Countering the Financing of Terrorism). Shelgeyr Ltd had been operating under an online gambling permit granted under the Online Gambling Regulation Act 2001 since late 2018 but surrendered the licence back in July 2024 & it had lapsed.

Widespread Failures in Due Diligence and Ongoing Monitoring

The Commission identified widespread and systemic weaknesses across customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence during the period Shelgeyr held a licence. Alongside this, ongoing monitoring and risk assessment processes also showed clear failures during the same timeframe. The investigation found cases where customer accounts stayed active or reopened without proper enhanced due diligence checks. It also recorded failures to establish and assess customers’ sources of wealth, which raised concern for the regulator. Further review showed weak handling and assessment of potential politically exposed persons within customer records. Additional issues included insufficient transaction monitoring and poor record-keeping across several accounts. The Commission also noted failures to prevent anonymous accounts from operating on the platform. In several cases, documentation linked to monitoring activities was missing or not properly maintained.

Regulatory findings also pointed to gaps in governance structures and internal control frameworks. Shelgeyr showed weaknesses in its business risk assessment, customer risk assessment, and transaction risk assessment processes. These gaps included limited consideration of jurisdictional risks and the acceptance of convertible virtual currency payments. The Commission stated that the operator failed to show that key compliance roles had enough expertise or authority. This included the money laundering reporting officer and the AML/CFT compliance officer. Further breaches linked to training and oversight also came to light during the review. Shelgeyr could not provide evidence of current AML/CFT training for all staff members. The company also failed to demonstrate proper supervision of outsourced functions.

Enforcement Action Aims to Protect Sector Confidence

The Commission calculated the £200,000 penalty under its Discretionary Civil Penalties Policy. A discount was applied due to Shelgeyr’s admissions of failings and its full cooperation during the investigation. The regulator stated that the sanction remained proportionate to the seriousness, nature, and extent of the breaches. Alongside this, the Commission highlighted clear expectations for board-level compliance responsibility. It underlined that final accountability sits with the operator’s board. That duty covers oversight of systems, controls, and outsourced activities. Boards must also receive reports detailed enough to confirm arrangements operate as intended in practice.

Shelgeyr Limited is the outfit that owns Maverick Games, a cryptocurrency-only sports betting brand that launched way back in 2021. Maverick Games gives punters the chance to bet on more than 35 different sports, football, tennis and all the big esports tournaments. The whole point of the enforcement action was to reassure people that the Isle of Man’s gambling industry is a place you can trust. Regulators were keen to stress that all the operators including those that specialise in cryptocurrency have to stick to the same rules when it comes to things like governance and anti-money laundering controls. The same goes for risk management and how they look after their customers. At the same time as this was happening, the Commission put out some new guidance back in January 2025. The advisory notice was specifically warning operators to keep an eye out for the growing use of AI-generated fakes, the sort of thing used in money laundering and terror financing scams. They were telling operators to get their identity verification processes sorted and beef up their training for the staff so they’re better equipped to spot and stop any suspicious activity.