{"id":15055,"date":"2018-07-16T17:30:29","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T22:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/?p=15055"},"modified":"2022-12-07T08:50:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T14:50:13","slug":"why-is-gambling-associated-with-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/why-is-gambling-associated-with-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Gambling Associated with Crime?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Crime
Image Credit: theepochtimes.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whether it’s in movies, TV or popular culture, casinos and gambling are depicted as part of a criminal underworld, or at least linked to a criminal underbelly. But when you visit the best online casinos or head to your local licensed gambling establishment, none of those clich\u00e9s apply.<\/p>\n

So why is gambling associated with crime? Is there still a criminal element to gambling, or is that link out of date?<\/p>\n

Money Laundering<\/h2>\n
\"Money
Image Credit: financialtribune.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The concept of money laundering has been around for centuries, but the term in law enforcement in relatively new. The idea is quite simple. If you get money from a criminal act, whether from extortion, drugs or theft, you can’t just turn around and use those funds without attracting attention from the cops and tax authorities. That’s why criminals need to move money around to make it seem like it was legitimately-earned cash rather than something nefarious.<\/p>\n

Money laundering laws were originally created during the prohibition period<\/a>. Mobsters and underground rings started creating places for people to drink and gamble illegally (and wanted to use the ill-gotten funds).<\/p>\n

You can’t buy a car with a suitcase of cash without raising suspicion and depositing large sums of cash will also lead to some questions about how you got the money in the first place. In fact, mobsters like Al Capone were brought down due to money laundering and tax evasion rather than any other crime the mob was involved in.<\/p>\n

This is where casinos come into the picture. Going to a physical casino meant that you could buy a huge stack of chips, gamble for a little while and then cash out, claiming that all those funds were gambling winnings. You could even ask other people to pay you in casino chips to avoid raising any eyebrows. Casino are often high-cash flow businesses, making them ideal for money laundering and making the source of the funds untraceable.<\/p>\n

As a result, criminals have used casinos to \u201cclean\u201d money so that it could be used without raising any suspicion. That’s why there are so many regulations in place now for all big deposits, withdrawals and payouts at a casino, both online and in person.<\/p>\n