{"id":195282,"date":"2021-12-13T13:07:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T21:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=195282"},"modified":"2021-12-13T14:10:02","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T22:10:02","slug":"aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/","title":{"rendered":"Money Laundering Investigation into Aussie Pub Slots Called by Top Regulator"},"content":{"rendered":"

The chief gambling regulator in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has called for an investigation into the extent to which criminals launder money through slot machines in the state\u2019s non-gaming venues.<\/p>\n

\"Philip
ILGA chair Philip Crawford addresses the press during last year\u2019s public inquiry into Crown Resorts. Now he wants to see a similar investigation into slot machines at non-gaming venues. (Image: The Chronicle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Philip Crawford, chairman of the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA), wrote to State Premier Dominic Perrottet late last month, The Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

He told Perrottet that gambling in the state\u2019s pubs and clubs should face the same kind of in-depth public inquiry that examined Crown Resorts<\/a>‘ casino operations last year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crawford also wants the state government to extend ILGA\u2019s powers to oversee the non-gaming sector. He said he is currently hamstrung by inadequate laws that mean he can hold casinos to account, but not other venues. Even when they host banks of slots.<\/p>\n

17 Percent of the World\u2019s Slots<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In New South Wales, there are 95,000 slot machines, or \u201cpokies,\u201d as they are known colloquially. The overwhelming majority of these are stationed in non-gaming venues, such as pubs, clubs, and hotels.<\/p>\n

While Australia has just 0.3 percent of the world\u2019s population, it has 17 percent of the world\u2019s slots stationed in non-gaming venues. That totaled some 187,000 in 2017, according to the Australia Institute Tasmania.<\/p>\n

In NSW, there is a significant legislative gap in the way we regulate gaming at The Star Casino, which has approximately 1,500 gaming machines, and the way we regulate gaming at hotels and registered clubs, which, together, are authorized to operate more than 94,000 gaming machines across the state,\u201d<\/strong> Mr Crawford wrote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added he was concerned that criminal gangs were exploiting the regulatory gap by laundering money through slot machines.<\/p>\n

$1B Per Year Laundered <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Last month, NSW\u2019s chief gaming investigator David Byrne<\/a> told The Herald<\/em> he believed at least A$1 billion (US$710 million)\u00a0was being washed through slots at non-gaming venues nationwide.<\/p>\n

Byrne shared surveillance video from an unnamed Sydney pub that showed a gang member feeding $27,000 ($19,000) into a slot machine and betting $1, before cashing out the rest as \u201cwinnings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gang is suspected of being part of a major organized crime outfit laundering money through slot machines up and down Australia\u2019s east coast.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Non-gaming venues are required to file suspicious transaction reports (STRs) as part of national anti-money laundering directives, just like casinos. But relatively few are doing so, despite evidence such transactions are significantly widespread.<\/p>\n

Byrne advocates the introduction of cashless wagering that would \u201cnegate the ability for people to walk in with a bag of cash and put $30,000 into a machine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The chief gambling regulator in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has called for an investigation into the extent to which criminals launder money through slot machines in the state\u2019s non-gaming venues. Philip Crawford, chairman of the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA), wrote to State Premier Dominic Perrottet late last month, The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":195284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69293],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAussie Regulator Wants Money Laundering Investigation into Pub Slots<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ILGA chairman Philip Crawford wants investigation into money laundering problem at New South Wales pokies, or slots, at pubs and clubs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aussie Regulator Wants Money Laundering Investigation into Pub Slots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ILGA chairman Philip Crawford wants investigation into money laundering problem at New South Wales pokies, or slots, at pubs and clubs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/\" \/>\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=\"2021-12-13T21:07:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-13T22:10:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/crawford.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\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/\",\"name\":\"Aussie Regulator Wants Money Laundering Investigation into Pub Slots\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/crawford.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-13T21:07:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-13T22:10:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"ILGA chairman Philip Crawford wants investigation into money laundering problem at New South Wales pokies, or slots, at pubs and clubs.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/aussie-regulator-wants-money-laundering-investigation-into-pub-slots\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/crawford.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/crawford.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"ILGA chair Philip Crawford addresses the press during last year\u2019s public inquiry into Crown Resorts. 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