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The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has initiated civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against the Mount Pritchard District and Community Club, commonly known as Mounties. This action stems from allegations of significant and systemic violations of Australia\u2019s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML\/CTF) regulations.<\/p>\n
AUSTRAC’s allegations against Mounties are serious, asserting that the club failed to implement and maintain an adequate AML\/CTF program as mandated by the AML\/CTF Act. The organization claims that Mounties provided gaming services without the necessary compliance measures in place, which could potentially expose the club to criminal activities, including money laundering.<\/p>\n
AUSTRAC CEO, Brendan Thomas said, “Mounties is one of the largest and most profitable club groups in NSW. It owns 10 venues, 8 of which operate approximately 1,400 poker machines and it makes hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from money gambled on those machines,” Mr Thomas said.<\/p>\n
“This is a big company with an even bigger responsibility to ensure its clubs are managing the risks that criminals can run dirty money through its gaming machines.<\/p>\n
“AUSTRAC’s 2024 Money Laundering in Australia National Risk Assessment identified pubs and clubs as a medium risk sector, but when those businesses are exposed to cash, especially in circumstances where known money laundering risks are not being managed, the risk increases.”<\/p>\n
“A business operating at this scale, in a cash intensive sector, is exposed to a high degree of money laundering risk. In 2022 for example, the NSW Crime Commission released its Project Islington report which determined that billions of the approximately $95b gambled in NSW poker machines in 2021-22 was likely to be dirty money.”<\/p>\n
AUSTRAC responsibility is safeguarding Australia\u2019s financial system from criminal exploitation. The agency’s CEO, Brendan Thomas, emphasized the responsibility that large organizations like Mounties have in managing risks associated with money laundering. He pointed out that the gaming sector, particularly clubs and pubs, has been identified as a medium-risk area for money laundering activities.<\/p>\n
The gaming industry in New South Wales (NSW) is substantial, with billions of dollars wagered annually. According to the NSW Crime Commission’s Project Islington report, a significant portion of the money gambled in poker machines is suspected to be illicit funds.<\/p>\n
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has initiated civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against the Mount Pritchard District and Community Club, commonly known as Mounties. This action stems from allegations of significant and systemic violations of Australia\u2019s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML\/CTF) regulations. AUSTRAC’s allegations against Mounties are serious, asserting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":66024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,2,11,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-gaming","category-headlines","category-latest"],"yoast_head":"\n