War Criminal Found Gambling Millions in Australian Casinos

A man accused of dealing arms to Liberian war criminal has been found betting millions in Australian casinos, despite UN sanctions banning him from travel. Joseph Wong Kiia Tai stands accused of providing financial and military support to Charles Taylor’s regime and was slapped with a UN ban which should have meant he was unable to travel or access his assets. Despite this, Wong gained entry to Australia and was able to bet millions of dollars in Crown’s Perth and Melbourne casinos.

Slapped with UN sanctions

Mr Wong should not have been able to travel to Australia because of sanctions which had been levied against him by the UN. These were intended to block any travel due to the risk Wong is believed to present. The UN had also frozen his assets which should have prevented Wong from being able to gamble any significant sums of money.

The sanctions were put in place due to Wong’s involvement with Charles Taylor, a Liberian war criminal who he supported both financially and by practical means, such as providing him with military arms.

Taylor was a major player in the Sierra Leone civil war and has been incarcerated for 50 years due to the horror of his war crimes. In 2004 Wong was hit with international sanctions after supporting Taylor’s regime to destabilize the country and gain access to the nation’s stash of diamonds.

Questions over Crown checks 

The sanctions put in place had been accepted by the Australian government and questions will now be asked of the Department of Home Affairs as to how Wong managed to bypass the system.

After gaining entry to the country, Wong went on to secure access to Crown casinos. Records have shown that he was able to visit the casinos on multiple occasions, going on to lose $6 million during play.

Wong’s participation at the casino will raise serious questions about the checks that Crown carry out on their high-spending players. Although Wong’s ban was lifted in 2015, his presence in Australia and play at the casino took place while the sanctions were still in force.

This news comes after whistleblowers claimed last week that Crown were failing to properly file transactions in excess of $10,000 and were not reporting them to the authorities. Concerns were raised about potential money-laundering activity at the casino but a Crown spokesperson has insisted they are not interested in dealing with any criminal factions.