London’s High Roller Park Lane Club Owner Remains a Mystery

Article by : Helen Dec 14, 2020

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Park Lane Club is one of those private casino venues that are frequented by high rollers – after all, the membership fee itself is already a thousand British pounds out of their pockets. This casino is located in the heart of London, at the luxurious Hilton hotel, with stunning views over Hyde Park and roulette and blackjack tables to offer its select clientele. While it projects a breathtakingly exclusive atmosphere under a prime brand image, once you dig a bit into the casino’s history, you might find some skeletons in the closet.

Silverbond Enterprises, the company that operates Park Lane Club, had its casino license revoked in October this year. The decision would have entered into force on November 18; however, the company chose to use its right to appeal the decision just one day before this date. As the UK Gambling Commission is awaiting the appeal results, the license revocation decision hasn’t been enforced yet. Unwavered by the ongoing legal standoff, Park Lane Club owners opened their doors to high-end members on December 2. (The casino had been closed earlier due to the lockdown imposed by the British government to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19.)

As stated in the UK Gambling Commission’s decision, it decided to revoke Silverbond Enterprises’ license because the company failed to “provide full and proper explanations with supporting evidence” regarding its “source of funds used to acquire and support” it.

This is an ongoing scandal, so here’s the backstory. Silverbond Enterprises used to be under the control of Vasilijs Melniks, a Latvian businessman who himself was investigated by Ukrainian law enforcement and later accused of money laundering. His assets in the country were later seized following the Ukrainian court’s decision. As it recently turned out, Melniks apparently sold his share in Silverbond and quit the company in 2018. Yet, the new owner of the company remains anonymous – and yes, it is possible due to a loophole in the United Kingdom’s legislation.

Silverbond Enterprises operates under the Companies Act of 2006. According to the act’s Section 790ZG, the owners of public companies can choose to keep their identity hidden in case they are “at serious risk of violence or intimidation” due to their business activities. At the moment, the company’s shares are traded as owned by SOGIP, a firm based in Geneva with an Italian banker on its board. Yet, the real owner of the Silverbond’s shares, who is actually in control of the company’s activities, remains anonymous.

And it’s not even the first time the casino operator got into trouble with the UK Gambling Commission. At the beginning of 2019, Silverbond was fined £1.8 million and issued a warning by the regulator. The main reasoning behind the fine was the company’s inability to ensure “complete full Enhanced Due Diligence on its top 250 customers within its customer profiling system” – and, according to the Commission, it also failed to comply with the anti-money laundering requirements and social responsibility codes of practice.

The latter one refers to a case where a Park Lane Club client exhibited potential problem gambling signs like violent behavior towards the staff and inflicting property damage. UK casino operators are bound by the social responsibility codes of practice to recognize such behavior and cut such gamblers off. As for money laundering, the UK Gambling Commission found out that in 2016 Park Lane Club failed to conduct necessary background checks when three clients cashed out checks of up to £2 million each.