Details on new money laundering charges against Tabcorp
News on 28 Apr 2016
News on 28 Apr 2016
Top Australian gambling group Tabcorp is facing a further 61 reaches of contravening anti-money laundering laws, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported Thursday.
The report is a follow up story to the news earlier this month that the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) had filed additional charges against the gambling company in a federal court (see previous reports).
Tapcorp could face penalties of up to A$18 million if convicted on the charges, which include money laundering and contraventions of measures aimed at preventing the funding of terrorism by failing to report suspicious transactions.
The original charges against Tabcorp were first filed in July 2015, with more added earlier this month. Austrac CEO Paul Jevtovic said the new breaches came to light after his organisation launched legal proceedings against Tabcorp and its NSW and Victorian wagering businesses last year.
“This ongoing investigation into Tabcorp’s extensive, significant and systematic non-compliance with Australia’s money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation has resulted in these additional allegations,” Jevtovic said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Austrac has alleged Tabcorp contravened its reporting obligations on 236 occasions, which had the potential to facilitate large-scale money laundering by crime syndicates or compromise the integrity of the financial system.
A Tabcorp spokesman said the company would file a response in relation to the amended statement of claim lodged by Austrac.
Tabcorp’s chief executive at the time of the alleged payment, Elmer Funke Kupper, resigned last month from his role as chief of the Australian stock exchange.
Tabcorp is also under fire and reportedly the subject of an Australian Federal Police investigation on allegations that it made a A$200,000 payment to the family of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2009 as part of a lobbying campaign. The company has been the subject of extensive Australian media coverage claiming that underworld figures were exploiting Tabcorp betting accounts to launder cash.
