Money laundering investigation uncovers man who washed $60k through Western Sydney pokies

A man with possible links to an organised criminal syndicate “washed” $60,400 through six gaming machines in under two hours at a Western Sydney bowling club.

A man with possible links to an organised criminal syndicate “washed” $60,400 through six gaming machines in under two hours during a suspected money laundering operation at a Western Sydney bowling club.

A list of his transactions, contained in a confidential government money laundering report, showed the cash was put into the machines in lots of $3500, with the same amount being withdrawn in sometimes a minute.

The suspicious transactions were ­uncovered at Mount Lewis Bowling Club in Greenacre during an Anti-Money Laundering Project.

The investigation by the ­independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, represented by NSW Liquor & Gaming, the NSW Crime Commission and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, has found evidence of widespread money laundering across licensed venues.

The report, obtained by The Saturday Telegraph last week, triggered the chairman of the NSW gaming regulator to call for a royal commission-style inquiry into money laundering, crime and problem gambling.

While the NSW Crime Commission has convened its own private inquiry instead, it is understood several ministers, including former liquor and gaming minister Victor Dominello, still want a ­broader inquiry.

The report said the man at Mount Lewis Bowling Club was “well known” to the venue, which had indicated he had also boasted about “putting even more” through Bankstown Sports Club.

“They say he attends sometimes twice a day and puts through large amounts of cash,” the report said. “He often attends with other friends and family.”

On the day the man washed $60,400, he had been in the company of a second ­individual who collected the money using four separate visitor cards — despite the pair being club members — in a move that meant there would be no record of how much he put in or took out.

The case is among scores of suspected money laundering operations uncovered by the authorities during a snap ­operation held between October 11 and November 20 last year, spanning 178 venues across greater Sydney.

The report made a series of recommendations to further tackle money laundering.

Both Clubs NSW, which said “it takes allegation of money laundering very seriously”, and the NSW government indicated they would await the findings of the Crime Commission inquiry before considering its recommendations

LAUNDRY INSTRUCTIONS

It’s all about knowing the limits. Crooks and tax evaders wanting to launder money use a variety of techniques to “wash” cash, including using gaming machines.

The cash is cleaned up by the fact any money a machine owes a punter comes out on a ticket, which is then cashed by the venue.

Dr Charles Livingstone, an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, said the key was to keep under the cash input limit in each State and Territory.

In NSW, the amount of cash that can be put into a gaming machine ­before authorities might be notified is $5000. While some brazen individuals might plough in an amount close to the limit before taking a ticket to have it all back in cash, most put in far smaller amounts over a period of time and different machines.

It also helps to play legitimately for some of the time, given authorities can track what is going on with a ­machine in real time.

To tackle money laundering on premises, clubs in NSW engage a number of measures, including submitting suspicious, threshold and annual compliance reports, appointing compliance officers, training staff to identify suspicious activities and undertaking risk assessments.

Clubs NSW claimed it was difficult to launder large amounts because anyone who wins more than $5000 in a club has their ID recorded to receive their money, with their details ­exposed to law enforcement.

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