{"id":158265,"date":"2020-12-13T05:38:57","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T13:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=158265"},"modified":"2020-12-13T10:04:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T18:04:02","slug":"austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Financial Crimes Agency Says Junkets Infiltrated by Organized Crime, Foreign Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"

The junket operators who serve the Australian casino sector have been infiltrated by criminals and foreign agents, placing the nation at risk of money laundering and \u201cforeign interference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AUSTRAC\"
AUSTRAC highlighted the dangers of “politically exposed people” within junket operations. (Image: The Australian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s the conclusion of a report by Australia\u2019s financial crimes agency, AUSTRAC<\/a>. It raises serious questions about the domestic casino industry\u2019s continued relationships with the junkets, which organize trips for high rollers and lend them money to gamble.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney laundering and financial crime enables serious criminal activity, such as drug trafficking and human trafficking, which causes harm to our communities,” said AUSTRAC chief executive Nicole Rose in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe information contained in this risk assessment shows that junkets are highly vulnerable to criminal misuse, and Australian casinos must do more to mitigate ML\/TF [Money laundering\/terrorist financing] risks,\u201d she added. “I urge casinos to take prompt action by assessing their levels of risk posed by junket operations, strengthening their controls and reporting suspicious activity to AUSTRAC.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Triad Links<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Crown Resorts has agreed to sever links with junkets unless they are approved by Australian State regulators. Its relationship with the junkets was highly scrutinized during a recent, months-long public inquiry<\/a> examining its suitability to hold a license in New South Wales.<\/p>\n

The inquiry was called after Australian media accused Crown of having links to Chinese crime bosses<\/a> through the junkets and of turning a blind eye to money laundering in the pursuit of profit.<\/p>\n

\n

But Australia\u2019s other major casino operator, The Star Entertainment Group, still has strategic partnerships with the junkets, including Macau-based Suncity. Suncity CEO Alvin is reportedly persona non grata in Australia because of alleged past links with the 14K Triads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dangerous People<\/strong><\/h2>\n

AUSTRAC highlighted the involvement of \u201cpolitically exposed\u201d foreigners within the junkets. In money-laundering terms, a politically exposed person (PEP) is someone who has been promoted by an international body or state to a high-profile position within the past 12 months. PEP\u2019s are more likely to need to launder the proceeds of bribery and corruption, or assets otherwise stripped from their country of origin.<\/p>\n

\n

Their presence also \u201cincreases the vulnerability of this sector to exploitation for the purposes of foreign interference because these individuals are inherently more likely to hold political ideologies, wield political power and have access to government funds,\u201d AUSTRAC said.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The agency said it had identified links between a small number of junket operators and \u201cpossible foreign interference activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between April 2018 and the end of March 2019, AUSTRAC received 635 suspicious matter reports regarding junkets. Two unnamed casinos accounted for two-thirds of these.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The junket operators who serve the Australian casino sector have been infiltrated by criminals and foreign agents, placing the nation at risk of money laundering and \u201cforeign interference.\u201d That\u2019s the conclusion of a report by Australia\u2019s financial crimes agency, AUSTRAC. It raises serious questions about the domestic casino industry\u2019s continued relationships with the junkets, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":158267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAUSTRAC Says Junkets Infiltrated by Organized Crime, Foreign Agents<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AUSTRAC says casino junkets in Australia, which have links to Crown and Star, infiltrated by foreign agents and organized crime.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AUSTRAC Says Junkets Infiltrated by Organized Crime, Foreign Agents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AUSTRAC says casino junkets in Australia, which have links to Crown and Star, infiltrated by foreign agents and organized crime.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-13T13:38:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-13T18:04:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/AUSTRAC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/\",\"name\":\"AUSTRAC Says Junkets Infiltrated by Organized Crime, Foreign Agents\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/AUSTRAC.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-13T13:38:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-13T18:04:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"AUSTRAC says casino junkets in Australia, which have links to Crown and Star, infiltrated by foreign agents and organized crime.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/austrac-says-junkets-infiltrated-by-organized-crime-foreign-agents\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/AUSTRAC.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/AUSTRAC.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"AUSTRAC highlighted the dangers of \\\"politically exposed people\\\" within junket operations. 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