Australia’s financial watchdog says that it has one casino resort in Queensland and one in the Northern Territory ‘under scrutiny’, ordering compliance audits.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC), notes that the audit mandate comes after the oversight body ‘identified potential gaps and deficiencies in AML/CTF controls, risk and oversight’.
The instruction refers to The Ville Resort-Casino in Townsville, Queensland and the Mindil Beach Casino Resort in Darwin, Northern Territory.
Both have been instructed to appoint external auditors to assess their AML/CTF compliance.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas indicated that the far-north casinos’ gaming machines and table games operations come with elevated risk and could be used for money laundering.
“Although they may be smaller than entities such as Crown Resorts and The Star, like all gambling venues, The Ville and Mindil Beach face heightened risk of exploitation by criminals,” noted the official in a release.
The Ville operates over 370 gaming machines and 20 game tables, as well as providing sports betting. Mindil Beach operates over 600 pokies and gaming tables (both in mass and VIP areas) as well as NT Keno.
“This action follows major actions we have taken against other casinos, Crown Resorts, Sky City, and The Star and online bookmakers, Entain, Sportsbet and Bet365,” notes the watchdog’s CEO.
The scope of the audits encompasses assessment of each casino’s AML/CTF programs, a money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessment ‘that considers the risk faced by their business, its customer base and the methods by which they deliver their services’.
It also includes that the operators ensure a framework for the board and senior management to ‘have ongoing oversight’ of their AML/CTF programs, and that they are ‘appropriately monitoring customers’ in regard to identifying and mitigating potential ML/TF risks.
The scope of the audit is determined by AUSTRAC and will come at each company’s expense. The watchdog indicates that it will ‘assess whether any further regulatory action is required based on the outcomes of the audits’.
