Entain Fined

That the Parliament welcomes reports that the gambling company, Entain, will pay HMRC £585 million to settle bribery allegations related to a Turkish firm that it previously owned; understands that the Royal Courts of Justice approved the settlement, including a £20 million charitable donation and the covering of case costs; further understands that this will be subject to a Deferred Prosecution Agreement, spread over four years, which allows for suspending prosecution if specified conditions are met, is applicable to organisations but not individuals, and can be used in such instances for fraud and bribery cases; understands that this landmark settlement is the first for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the UK; further understands that Entain will also contribute £10 million to HMRC and CPS costs; notes the reports that the investigation focused on former employees and third-party suppliers, examining an alleged lack of anti-bribery procedures within Entain, previously known as GVC, which has since undertaken a comprehensive review of its anti-bribery policies following its sale in 2017; considers that this judgement is a huge success for the CPS, and encourages the tax authorities, including HMRC and Revenue Scotland, to clamp down heavily on fraud, bribery, tax evasion and artificial tax avoidance.