Casinos have been noted as a place where criminals and organised crime figures like to socialise and particularly prefer to launder their criminal proceeds. Criminal influence and exploitation of casinos appears to be for possible money laundering, but there is lot more to it such as for recreation and in some cases enhancing their criminal endeavours outside the casino.
The value instrument that plays critical role is the “Casino chips” and which in lieu of cash in gaming transactions between the house and players. Chips are shaped round, marked with the denomination and are negotiable within the casino groups. Casinos may issue “credit chips‟ which are different in colour and only used by patrons playing on credit. Casinos may issue “dead chips” which are only used by junket (cross-border movement of people and funds) patrons.
USAGE OF CHIPS
Launderers typically buy chips with cash or through their casino account. Chips bought on account may use a Chip Purchase Voucher (CPV) or similar value instrument. Repayment is then requested by a cheque, draft or money transfer drawn on the casino’s account.
This method can be made more opaque by using a chain of casinos where the chips that were purchased with illicit cash are converted to credit, and transferred to another jurisdiction / area in which the casino chain has an establishment by this the credit is then converted into in the form of a casino cheque at the second / subsequent casino.
Real life scenario – Purchase of chips and gambling without clear intention to win
Two Asian guys residing in Belgium went to a Belgian casino twice to purchase chips for a total amount of almost 25 000 EUR. When visiting they did not play at the tables and immediately collected funds through a third person, also an Asian national. Investigations indicated that the three persons were students and lived at a common address with other Asian students. It appeared that the transactions were likely to be linked to human trafficking. By not playing at the casino and collecting the money through a third person they wanted to leave a paper trail in order to justify the origin of the funds.
Conclusion: – Why are Casinos being Susceptible?
- Huge cash flow is accepted as normal. Also, casinos can provide simple banking services with a decent level of anonymity.
- Casinos would accept people with a bad reputation. Simply put, being infamous won’t keep the door closed. Notorious or not, if you go to a casino and spend your money without causing trouble, you’ll always be welcome.
- Casino’s own business interest dictates that the venue should be profitable. In that sense, high rollers are clients that are wanted and well taken care of. Suspicious transaction reports are done at the discretion of responsible individuals who, in their effort to preserve a good client relationship, may abstain from reporting a certain activity.
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