The gambling industry regulator has issued financial penalties to four more of the UK’s biggest gambling companies over safeguarding failures.

Four gambling companies are to cough up a total of £4.5m in penalty packages as part of the Gambling Commission’s ongoing investigation into the online casino sector.

InTouch Games LTD will pay £2.2m, Betit Operations LTD will pay £1.4m, MT Secure Trade will pay £700,000 and BestBet will pay £230,972.

The companies failed to put in place effective safeguards to prevent money laundering and keep punters safe from gambling related harm.

The financial penalties are part of the regulator’s ongoing investigation into the online casino sector. For the last 18 months, the Gambling Commission has conducted assessments of 123 online operators. 45 were told to submit an action plan to rise standards.

Since the investigation was first launched, five operators have been forced to surrender their licenses.

Labour, who recently published policy proposals to address problem gambling – including policies CARE has called for – said online casinos should have to reapply for their licences after more than a third were found by the industry regulator.

This month, it emerged that the Gambling industry had failed to meet a target for charity donations to support problem gamblers, prompting calls for a mandatory levy to be introduced.