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Rise in Casino Gambling in U.S. Seen as Potential Boon to Money Launderers
By Colby Adams
printThe expansion of the casino industry to new states throughout the U.S. increases the likelihood that gaming will grow as a vehicle for money laundering, particularly since the federal agency charged with its oversight is woefully understaffed, according to law enforcement officials and former IRS auditors. Tasked with monitoring the casino business and catching efforts to launder illicit funds through legal gaming, the IRS lacks staff and resources to regularly audit casinos, said James Dowling, a former IRS special agent and president of the Dowling Advisory Group, a Pasadena, CA consultancy. But the IRS unit charged with enforcing Bank Secrecy...
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Banks are largely ignoring requests made by casinos under a confidential data-sharing program designed to combat illicit finance, according to sources.
The U.K. Gambling Commission may have called on firms last month to improve their anti-money laundering controls, but the concerns over how best to do that are not new to the nation's gaming sector.
Nevada state regulators will levy a monetary penalty and set conditions on Caesars Entertainment's gaming license as part of an anti-money laundering settlement, according to an individual with knowledge of the plan.
A Northern Mariana Islands casino will forfeit approximately $3 million to the U.S. Justice Department under the terms of a deal reached Thursday that will spare the gambling operation criminal charges.
Ahead of the issuance of expected federal guidance, a top lobbying group for America's casinos Thursday outlined how the gaming industry should best shield itself from money launderers.
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Fueled by the need to fill budgetary coffers, the expansion of casinos in the United States will likely foster another sort of growth-more state anti-money laundering laws.
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The U.S. Treasury handed down a $250,000 civil money penalty against a small Minnesota tribal casino on Thursday for "extensive violations" of anti-money laundering rules over a three-year period.
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