11 Va. Admin. Code § 5-70-230

Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 8, December 2, 2024

Section 11VAC5-70-230 - Investigations; reporting

A. For the purposes of this section, "regulated entity" means a person or individual who is a permit holder, license holder, or registrant.

B. A regulated entity shall cooperate in good faith with an investigation conducted by the director, a sports governing body, or a law-enforcement agency.

C. A regulated entity shall provide or facilitate provision of account-level betting information and data files relating to individuals placing wagers and any other information necessary for investigations conducted by the director, a sports governing body, or a law-enforcement agency.

D. During normal business hours, the director may enter the premises of any facility of a regulated entity that is utilized by the regulated entity to conduct or to assist in the conducting of sports betting operations in the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of inspecting equipment, books, and records kept as required by the sports betting law or this chapter to ensure that the regulated entity is in compliance with the sports betting law and this chapter, or to make any other inspection as necessary to enforce the sports betting law or this chapter. Failure to admit the director or department staff after presentation of credentials shall be grounds for the imposition of sanctions.

E. The director, department staff, and representatives of any law-enforcement agency with jurisdiction may demand access to inspect the business records of any regulated entity without the requirement of obtaining a subpoena. Failure to provide access to the director or department staff after presentation of credentials shall be grounds for the imposition of sanctions.

F. A regulated entity shall maintain all records relating to the conduct of its sports betting operations in the Commonwealth of Virginia for a period of at least five years.

G. The director may investigate the possibility of any of the following activities:

1. Acceptance of a prohibited wager;

2. Transmission of material nonpublic information for the purpose of wagering on a sporting event or to influence a wager;

3. Abnormal betting activity, unusual wagering activity, suspicious wagering activity, or patterns that may indicate concerns about the integrity of a sporting event;

4. Violations of the Virginia Comprehensive Money Laundering Act (§ 18.2-246.1 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) or federal law prohibiting money laundering;

5. Criminal, civil, administrative, or disciplinary proceedings or nonroutine government or law enforcement investigations against the regulated entity;

6. Offering or extending credit to a player;

7. Directly targeting sports betting advertisements or promotions to minors;

8. Offering or accepting a wager on sporting events not approved by the director, including high school and youth league sports events;

9. Offering or accepting any wager prohibited by the sports betting law or this chapter;

10. Engaging in or facilitating illegal or suspicious wagering activity;

11. Any complaints of illegal activity; or

12. Any other complaint, activity, or conduct that may affect the integrity of sports betting in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

H. Referral of investigations.

1. Upon receipt of a report of prohibited conduct, the director shall conduct a preliminary investigation.

2. After the preliminary investigation, if the director concludes that the allegations contained in the report are credible, the director shall refer the allegations to the appropriate law-enforcement agency.

3. If the alleged conduct occurred entirely or primarily within the Commonwealth of Virginia, the referral shall be made to the Office of the Attorney General.

4. If the alleged conduct occurred entirely or primarily within a United States jurisdiction other than the Commonwealth of Virginia, the referral shall be made to the Office of the Attorney General of that jurisdiction and, if applicable, to any appropriate sports wagering regulatory agency of that jurisdiction.

5. If the alleged conduct implicates interstate commerce or any other violation of federal law, the referral shall be made to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

6. In addition to any referral under this subsection, if a report alleged prohibited conduct by an athlete, upon determining that the allegations in the report are credible, the director shall notify the appropriate sports governing body in writing, including in the report the identity of the athlete and a general description of the allegation.

I. A regulated entity shall immediately report to the director any information relating to:

1. Criminal or disciplinary proceedings or nonroutine government or law enforcement investigations commenced against the regulated entity in connection with its operations in any jurisdiction;

2. Unusual or suspicious wagering activity or wagering activities or patterns that may indicate a concern with the integrity of a sporting event;

3. Any potential or actual breach of a sports governing body's internal rules and codes of conduct pertaining to sports betting, either:

a. Known to the regulated entity, or

b. That reasonably should have been known by the regulated entity;

4. Conduct that corrupts, is intended to corrupt, or unduly influences the betting outcome of a sporting event for the purposes of financial gain, including match fixing; or

5. Suspicious or illegal wagering activities, including:

a. Cheating;

b. The use of funds derived from illegal activity;

c. Suspicious activities reported to the federal government pursuant to AML laws and regulations;

d. Prohibited wagers;

e. Wagers to conceal or launder funds derived from illegal activity;

f. Use of compensated agents or proxies to place wagers; and

g. Use of false identification in connection with sports betting activity.

J. Reporting prohibited conduct.

1. Reports submitted via the hotline established pursuant to § 58.1-4043 of the Code of Virginia or by any other method shall include a summary of the facts supporting the allegation.

2. The identity of an individual making a report and the contents of any report under this subsection:

a. Shall be confidential and not subject to disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700, et seq. of the Code of Virginia); and

b. Shall not be disclosed for any reason except:

(1) As authorized by the individual;

(2) Upon referral of the allegation to law enforcement; or

(3) As ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.

K. A regulated entity shall promptly report information relating to conduct described in subdivisions I 2, I 3, and I 4 of this section, to the relevant sports governing body and provide written notice of that communication to the director. With respect to information provided by a permit holder or supplier to a sports governing body, the sports governing body may use such information only for integrity purposes and shall maintain the confidentiality of such information unless disclosure is required by the director, the sports betting law or other law, or a court order; if the permit holder or supplier consents to disclosure; or if the director determines that disclosure is necessary to allow the sports governing body to conduct and resolve integrity-related investigations.

L. Upon request of the director, a regulated entity promptly shall share with the director, in the form and format required by the director at the account level information regarding a bettor; amount and type of wager; the time the wager was placed; the location of the wager, including the internet protocol address if applicable; the outcome of the wager; and records of abnormal, unusual, or suspicious wagering activity.

M. If a sports governing body notifies the director that real-time information sharing for wagers placed on its sporting events is necessary and desirable, a regulated entity shall share the information described in subsection L of this section with the sports governing body or its designee with respect to wagers on the sports governing body sporting events. Such information may be provided in anonymized form and may be used by a sports governing body solely for integrity purposes.

11 Va. Admin. Code § 5-70-230

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 04, eff. 10/12/2020.

Statutory Authority: §§ 58.1-4007, 58.1-4015.1, and 58.1-4030 through 58.1-4047 of the Code of Virginia.