Tabcorp fined $45m for money laundering, terror financing breaches, court confirms
Anonymous punter’s $100k windfall among failings in wagering giant’s laundering and counter terrorism systems.
Wagering giant Tabcorp has been hit with a more than $90 million bill for failings in its anti-money laundering and counter terrorism systems, which included a punter anonymously obtaining a $100,000 windfall.
The Federal Court today agreed to a settlement finalised between Tabcorp and Australia’s financial intelligence agency, Austrac, which included a $45 million fine - the highest ever civil penalty in corporate Australia. Austrac was also awarded costs, which takes Tabcorp’s financial hit for its failings to more than $90m.
The court determined that Tabcorp had contravened the anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing act on 108 occasions. The wagering giant admitted to breaches that related to unlawful activity, including money laundering and credit card fraud. Tabcorp also admitted it failed to identify a customer who collected $100,000 in winnings.
Austrac chief executive Paul Jevtovic said the identity of that customer remained unknown.
“These are the things that are important to us. Who the person is and who are they associated to, who they may be acting on behalf of. This is the kind of intelligence that allows us and law enforcement to do the work we need to do to keep our community safe.”
Mr Jevtovic said Tabcorp had a corporate culture indifferent to meaningful AML/CTF compliance and risk mitigation until the agency intervened.
“In my view the non-compliance arises from a corporate culture that is indifferent to AML/CTF compliance,” he said.
“Cultures such as this put not only the organisation at risk but the community by creating opportunities for organising crime groups, serious criminals and others to divert their criminal wealth to the black market and fund other illegal activities such as drug trafficking.”
Tabcorp chief executive David Attenborough said Tabcorp had made a significant investment in enhancing its AML/CTF compliance over the last three years.
He added that the company remained firmly committed to continuing to work co-operatively with AUSTRAC into the future.
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