Clubs NSW push for greater powers to stop money laundering

Clubs want more powers to ban people for life if they abuse gambling machines, and they want police to get involved.

Clubs are seeking greater powers to ban criminals for life if they abuse gambling machines at their venues.

Incoming Police Commissioner Karen Webb would be able to issue club exclusion orders against anyone suspected of using poker machines to launder money, under new proposals taken by industry to police and the government on Monday.

Clubs NSW is pushing a suite of new measures including a mandatory code of conduct for gaming venues, access to the government’s central monitoring system, and a secure system to tip-off police to suspicious activities.

Clubs NSW chief executive Josh Landis is calling for a seat at the regulatory table by joining police, Liquor and Gaming NSW and AUSTRAC to create a special taskforce to identify criminals.

Clubs in NSW want to ban money launderers from their venues. Picture: AFP

“We are calling on state and federal governments to give clubs the tools to prevent money laundering. At present, clubs are prevented by federal law from banning members for acting suspiciously in our venues as it would constitute a ‘tipping-off’ offence,” he said,

“We’re also unable to utilise NSW Police or Liquor and Gaming NSW alerts which would allow us to identify potential money launderers operating in our venues.

“We want to work with police and regulators to identify criminals so that we can ban them from our venues for life,” Mr Landis said.

Clubs NSW is also calling for digital entry to be required at all gamin venues and for the government to create a centralised cheque and EFT register so police can monitor people who have multiple big wins in a particular period.

It comes after Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello looked at tougher measures on gaming venues including the rollout of cashless cards for poker machines managed by industry.

Despite the detailed offer, it’s understood there is mounting pressure in the government to call an inquiry before any resolutions are implemented to understand the full extent of organised crime infiltration into pubs and clubs.

But Mr Landis shot down any suggestions that the proposal was a response to “anonymous and uninformed attacks on clubs” and was “developed months ago”.

“Sign-in and other requirements mean you would have to be a fool to try to launder money in a club, but we all must do more to retain the community’s confidence. We are calling on state and federal governments to give clubs the tools to prevent money laundering,” he said.

“(We want to ensure) that anyone who attempts to exploit community clubs to launder illicit funds will find themselves banned from NSW licensed venues for life. NSW clubs have always been a place for friends and families, they are not a place for felons,” he said.