The financial crime regulator in Australia has rolled out a second specialist unit as a response to the rising threat of money laundering in the local gambling industry, which has been recognised as a high risk by people with knowledge of the situation.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) confirmed the establishment of the new unit at the Regulating the Game conference that took place in Sydney earlier this week. At the time, the financial crime watchdog warned that it had found evidence of serious non-compliance with the country’s anti-money laundering laws and regulations in a number of businesses.
As Casino Guardian reported, late in 2022, the AUSTRAC started an investigation into two gambling operators – bet365 and Sportsbet – as a result of suspicions that both of them failed to comply with the country’s anti-money laundering legislation. As a result, some external checks were given a start, with they soon being expected to report back on their findings.
A spokesperson for the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre shared that the financial crime watchdog allocated some resources to manage the dangers associated with terrorism financing and money laundering in the country’s financial system in terms of the risks faced by different sectors across the Australian industry. According to the regulator, the establishment of the aforementioned specialist unit focusing especially on gambling operators proves the current risk environment in the sector.
Proposed Cashless Gambling to Reduce the Risk of Money Laundering, Campaigners Claim
Bradley Brown, manager of regulatory operations at the AUSTRAC, explained to senior gambling executives that a significant increase in suspicious matter reports has been registered over the last 12 months. He further noted there was a large number of legitimate people who sought to gamble and their actions were not necessarily against the country’s gambling sector, so the establishment of the special unit was pretty much managing the risk when such occurred.
He further supported the efforts of the New South Wales Crime Commission for the implementation of cashless gambling at venues offering so-called poker machines as a way to tackle money laundering after some concerns were raised as a result of industry figures.
The Crime Commission in the NSW found that billions in dirty money have been washed through pokies available at local clubs and pubs every year, so it recommended the implementation of cashless gambling in order to reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorism financing. That recommendation was welcomed by the Premier of the state, Dominic Perrottet, who has included pokies as a matter of paramount priority in the state election campaign.
According to Armina Antoniou, the manager of financial crime risk at Crown Resorts, the proposed shift to cashless gambling was inevitable. She further noted that it would have a positive impact on the sector as it would reduce the risk of money laundering. The only thing Ms Antoniou has been concerned about was the implementation of cashless gambling. She raised some concerns that the variety of available data hacks, it could be possible for a lot of legitimate ID to be released on the dark web and purchased by fraudsters who would be basically able to buy a fully identified digital cashless gambling card and use it at venues offering poker machines.
- Author
Daniel Williams
