On 4 December, Financial Review reported that the 2007 report had claimed that casinos were broadly aware of and comply with their AML/CFT obligations. However, AUSTRAC chief executive Nicole Rose, now says that the finding “should not have been stated in that way. A redacted version had removed any reference to the vulnerabilities in casino AML/CFT programmes, leaving only information about broad awareness and compliance across the sector, but the unredacted version said that casinos were using legal technicalities through which junket tour operators, not the individual gamblers, were treated as the casino “customer” for the purpose of the rules. However, she said that while casino junket operators posed a major risk of embezzling funds, it was up to individual gaming companies to assess whether overseas tour groups were compliant with Australia’s AML/CFT laws as AUSTRAC does not regulate junket tour operators.
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