Poker machine ‘washing dirty money’ probe at NSW licensed venues

Gaming profits have hit record highs in NSW despite the COVID lockdown with staggering amounts of money being pushed through both clubs’ and hotels’ poker machines.

Five venues are being investigated by police over fears criminals and tax dodgers are using suburban pokies to “wash” millions of dollars of dirty money.

The Sunday Telegraph revealed last week how a covert Liquor & Gaming audit of two licensed venues — one in the bush and the other in the city — had uncovered evidence of suspicious transactions.

In a move that is set to exacerbate a war between the gaming industry and the state government, it can be revealed the individual gaming machine transactions of five licensed venues across metropolitan and regional areas are now being examined.

The investigation relates to evidence of suspicious activity, which includes money being put in to a machine before being cashed out without being played. The Liquor & Gaming Department is liaising with police as well as the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.

There will be an investigation into whether poker machines are being used to wash dirty money. Picture: Liam Kidston

An analysis of suburban gaming venue turnover and profits shows staggering amounts of money being funnelled through both clubs’ and hotels’ pokies with gaming profits hitting $716 million in the year to July, up from $580 million in the same period last year.

As for turnover — a figure that comprises wins and losses — the total for both clubs and hotels hit an astonishing $73.5 billion last financial year, with lower socio-economic areas such as Fairfield recording ­almost $7 billion and Canterbury-Bankstown more than $5 billion.

Monash University Public Health and Preventive Medicine associate professor, Dr Charles Livingstone, whose research has focused on the regulation and social impacts of gambling, said there was “no doubt” that “hundreds and thousands” of dollars were being washed through suburbs gaming machines.

This was especially so in NSW, where a gaming machine could be “loaded up” with $7500 before being cashed out after no play.

Money laundering is said to be happening at smaller licensed venues.

Dr Livingstone said while much of the money laundering believed to be going on in smaller venues was “drug money” or workers who had been paid cash, this amounted to significant amounts when multiplied across more than 90,000 gaming machines.

“If you look at the turnover in NSW, even a small amount is a huge figure,” he said. “We are talking tens of millions.”

A Liquor & Gaming NSW letter sent to the industry on Tuesday confirmed authorities were investigating. but acknowledged that potential suspicious activity was “not conclusive proof” of money laundering.

Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello has been calling for the industry to adopt a cashless card for pokies to stamp out laundering.

While the industry has indicated it was open to a trial, Clubs NSW CEO Josh Landis said a card would not be linked to identity.

A Clubs NSW spokeswoman said clubs had an obligation to report suspicious activity to AUSTRAC.

Since 2020, just five out of 2,300 venues with poker machines had been identified as having a suspicion transaction.

ClubsNSW had proposed a trial which would allow a person to digitally pay for a gaming machine, without using credit cards or cash.

“We believe it is important to trial the various technologies and assess their impacts, rather than dictating how people will or won’t be allowed to transact with their own money,” she said.