Australian Investigators Reveal Extent of Pokies Money Laundering Problem
Pokies machines line the walls of thousands upon thousands of pubs and clubs across Australia. Investigators have blown the lid off just how rife money laundering has become in these venues, with the cash flowing through the machines an integral part of this organized crime. In newly leaked footage, the world can now see just how brazen criminals have become in their efforts to wash cash obtained through illicit means, by using these pokies gaming machines.
Australia is facing a wave of new crime where money launders have discovered failsafe methods to wash enormous sums of money on slot machines ‘pokies’ with no repercussions. ©djedj/Pixabay
According to the report released this week by the investigators, there is evidence to suggest that 95,000 pokies machines across the country are being used for laundering money. Given the scale of this operation, it is estimated that the total amount of money being laundered in NSW is in excess of one hundred million dollars. With this amount being passed through the machines, investigators are able to derive that nationwide over $1 billion from the proceeds of criminal activity could potentially be filtered through the system each year.
One of the countries senior gambling regulatory officials was the first to open the conversations on this growing problem. Following leaked CCTV footage from a venue in Sydney where a money-laundering syndicate is seen conducting their operation, brazenly during the day. The footage shows how the crew commandeer the venue and works systematically to launder as much money as possible in the most efficient manner.
The worrying signs that have emerged from these videos are plain to see, despite all the measures being taken up and down the country to quash the illegal and nefarious activities that have plagued casinos for so long, these activities still go ahead with impunity. Sydney has become a hotbed for illicit gambling but is by no means the only place where this happens, and it has been thoroughly confirmed to be a national crisis.
Criminal Activity Confirmed to Be Nationwide
Investigators looking into these criminal activities have so far only unearthed illegal activity at clubs and pubs in the Sydney area. But given the immense scale of the activity in the inner-city, there is strong reason to suspect the problem is a nationwide issue. In the first couple of weeks following the lifting of lockdown restrictions in New South Wales – law enforcement teams were able to identify over 140 venues where this activity was able to go ahead unchecked.
It may sometimes seem like a victimless crime, and that is the justification many of those that have found themselves facing a jury has tried to articulate. But at the worst level, money launderers are often helping the very worst, depraved, and violent criminals retain their business model by moving money into clean assets.
New South Wales Gaming Authority chief, David Byrne has been particularly vocal on this issue over the past several weeks and has called on the operators to be stronger and more persistent in their efforts to eliminate the practice. It’s implausible that this practice is going on without the awareness of the staff working in the venues, and greater responsibility needs to be put on the shoulders of those who would happily enable money launderers to operate.
According to Mr. Byrne, the scope of scrutiny applied to small venues with pokies machines should be on the same level as the attention recently put on the Crown Resorts investigation. If clubs and pubs are falling below the standards of the gambling industry, then they too should be put under the microscope and looked at with scrutiny. Early reports suggest the activity has been going on since January 2018, and that less than 6% of all pokies venues in the country have made the correct report when these suspicious transactions occur.
Just How Do They Do It?
So as a final commentary, we wanted to look into just exactly how the criminals run such a smooth crime and continue to evade law enforcement. Well, it’s surprisingly simple and relies on the fact that the cashiers working in these venues are not trained to spot the illicit activity before it’s too late.
There are only two steps to the process, the first is for the criminal to bring inside the venue with him all the dirty cash that he wants to launder. Next is to load up as many pokies machines as possible with the dirty cash, an even distribution across all the machines is the preferred method that users are currently deploying. Then, they make a series of small meaningless bets with the dirty money just to register some activity and give the air of legitimacy to the operation. And finally, they cash out the funds on a ticket and collect the “clean” money from the cashier.
Regulators appear to be pressing for cashless gaming to become the norm, and if that would be the case then this functionality would immediately become obsolete. It would be in effect impossible to gamble money that wasn’t held in a deposit account where third-party controls on origin and legitimacy would prevent the machines from being used for laundering purposes.
