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Pubs and clubs – your friendly neighbourhood money-laundering service, thanks to 86,640 pokies

<p>Billions of dollars in proceeds of crime are being funnelled through clubs and pubs in New South Wales, <a href="https://www.crimecommission.nsw.gov.au/final-islington-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the NSW Crime Commission. Predictably, the industry is claiming it’s not an issue and solutions are too difficult.</p> <p>Laundering money through a local club or hotel involves loading cash into one of the state’s <a href="https://www.liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au/resources/gaming-machine-data" target="_blank" rel="noopener">86,640 poker machines</a>, then cashing out and claiming the money as winnings.</p> <p>This is not a preferred method for most organised criminals, the crime commission says. Sophisticated criminals have other methods. But it is still a sizeable proportion of the estimated $20 billion in criminal proceeds laundered in NSW each year.</p> <p>In Queensland, you can put only $100 into a poker machine at one time. In Victoria the limit is $1,000. In NSW, newer machines allow $5,000, and older machines up to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/14/nsw-poker-machine-laws-may-increase-risk-of-money-laundering-says-commission" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$10,000</a>. For supposedly harmless suburban fun it’s hard to understand why such sums are allowed.</p> <p>The findings of the NSW Crime Commission’s <a href="https://www.crimecommission.nsw.gov.au/final-islington-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inquiry into money laundering via clubs and hotels</a> follow scandalous money-laundering revelations from casino inquiries in <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-suitable-where-to-now-for-james-packer-and-crowns-other-casinos-154938" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NSW</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/illegal-dishonest-unethical-and-exploitative-but-crown-resorts-keeps-its-melbourne-casino-licence-170625" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victoria</a>, Western Australia and Queensland.</p> <p>Those inquiries found Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment allowed hundreds of millions of dollars to pass through their casinos, in contravention of anti-money-laundering regulations.</p> <p>Both companies were found not fit to hold their licences. Crown has been fined <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-30/crown-casino-fined-80-million-dollars-china-union-pay/101111660" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$80 million</a> in Victoria. Star has been fined <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-16/star-casino-set-to-be-fined-100-million/101541354" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$100 million</a> in NSW, and had its licence suspended.</p> <p>Both have been required to undergo extensive “renewal”. They have agreed to adopt cashless gaming to better protect against money laundering.</p> <p>It’s therefore unsurprising the NSW Crime Commission’s principal recommendation is to introduce a cashless system for all electronic gaming machines in NSW. Also unsurprising is that the industry is focused on why it shouldn’t.</p> <h2>Cashless gambling recommended</h2> <p>The NSW Crime Commission’s report recommends a cashless gambling system for pubs and clubs the same as for casinos – consistent with the identification requirements of Australia’s <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2021C00243" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act</a>.</p> <p>Electronic gaming cards would record amounts loaded and withdrawn, times, turnover, and losses/wins. The maximum amount of cash able to be loaded on to a player’s account in a single day would be $1,000.</p> <p>Josh Landis, the chief executive of ClubsNSW (which represents most of the state’s 1,200 licensed clubs) <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/sydney/programs/breakfast/breakfast/14090002" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has said</a> that such technology has not been trialled, and was uncosted and unproven.</p> <p>But Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment are implementing such systems. Similar systems have been operating successfully in Norway <a href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-571970219/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">since 2009</a>, and in Sweden <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and-practice-papers/pre-commitment-systems-electronic-gambling-machines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">since 2013</a>.</p> <p>Victoria has already implemented a card-based <a href="https://www.yourplay.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">precommitment system</a>, incorporating most necessary characteristics. Every poker machine in the state is linked to this system. Its flaw is that it is voluntary, allowing those who wish to clean dirty money, or avoid a limit, <a href="https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/safer-communities/gambling/evaluation-of-yourplay-final-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to simply opt out</a>.</p> <h2>It’s not just about money laundering</h2> <p>Money laundering isn’t the only reason to introduce cashless gaming systems.</p> <p>On any day in NSW, <a href="https://www.responsiblegambling.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/881279/NSW-Gambling-Survey-2019-report-FINAL-AMENDED-Mar-2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds of thousands of people</a> are experiencing significant gambling harm, mostly using poker machines. Many hundreds of thousands more – <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14459795.2017.1331252" target="_blank" rel="noopener">partners, children, employers</a> – are also harmed as a consequence.</p> <p>A pre-commitment system incorporating all the features of the NSW Crime Commission’s cashless model would stop money laundering and also help those struggling to control their gambling. For those who want to stop it would provide a truly effective gambling self-exclusion system.</p> <p>The Tasmanian government <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-16/tasmania-pokies-gambling-limits-reform-explained/101446788" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has promised to implement</a> a statewide system by 2024.</p> <h2>A matter of political commitment</h2> <p>The real test here isn’t technology. It’s political will.</p> <p>NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has expressed concern at the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/premier-says-pokies-taxing-on-the-misery-of-others-vows-to-do-better-20221002-p5bmjz.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exploitation of vulnerable people</a> via gambling. Opposition leader Chris Minns has <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/nsw/coalition-labor-set-to-be-wedged-on-cashless-gaming-card-as-crossbench-pushes-for-reform-20221027-p5bteh.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said the crime commission’s report is concerning</a> but will not commit to a cashless card.</p> <p>ClubsNSW and the Australian Hotels Association are two of Australia’s most powerful lobby groups. According to an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-23/how-gambling-industrys-biggest-political-donors-influence-votes/100592068" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC investigation</a>, they have doled out about a third of $40 million in political donations disclosed by gambling-related organisations over the past two decades.</p> <p>Since 2010, ClubsNSW has signed <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-million-dollar-men-who-run-the-clubs-industry-20221011-p5bowp.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memorandums of understanding</a> with incoming governments to protect its members interests.</p> <p>In the first six months of 2022 (the <a href="https://nswgov.sharepoint.com/sites/GamingMachineReports/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most recent data</a> available), people in NSW lost $4 billion using pokies – $2.4 billion in clubs, $1.6 billion in pubs. This is 23% more than the same period in 2019, before pandemic restrictions.</p> <p>Yet according to the Australian Hotels Association, the industry is on “<a href="https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/why-a-pokie-crackdown-will-have-pub-owners-nervous-20221026-p5bt48" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on its knees</a>” and being told to introduce “an unproven, untested, un-costed and unnecessary cashless system”.</p> <p>In NSW, gambling operators are not permitted to donate to state political campaigns. But ClubsNSW (and its member clubs) can because they are “<a href="https://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/Funding-and-disclosure/Political-donations/Unlawful-political-donations/Prohibited-donors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not for profit</a>”.</p> <p>If this continues, political parties will be open to the allegation that they, like clubs, are benefiting from the proceeds of crime.</p> <p>Pokie operators have billions of reasons to assert this is no big deal. Politicians should take a different view.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/pubs-and-clubs-your-friendly-neighbourhood-money-laundering-service-thanks-to-86-640-pokies-193312" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Legal

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Police find millions laundered through pokies

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NSW Police have identified more than $5.5 million in suspicious transactions over the last six weeks in their latest crackdown on money laundering through poker machines.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Chief NSW gaming investigator David Byrne said his team of investigators have identified 140 pubs and clubs, as well as 130 individual gamblers, that have been associated with money laundering activity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That’s only in the Sydney metro area, that’s not the entire NSW landscape,” he told </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Sydney Morning Herald</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The laundered cash comes from criminal proceedings and is made to look like legitimate earnings or winnings from gambling.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You’re talking about, at the worst level, child exploitation, human trafficking, firearms trafficking … terrorism funding - all of those can be packaged up in the same conversation as money laundering,” Mr Byrne said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Footage shared by </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Sydney Morning Herald</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">60 Minutes</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> over the weekend revealed how a money-laundering syndicate used pokies at a Sydney pub to launder tens of thousands of dollars.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">It turns out size doesn’t matter for criminals running massive money laundering operations. Now, in a major investigation with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/60Mins?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#60Mins</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/theage?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAge</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/smh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SMH</a>, we turn our attention to neighbourhood pubs and clubs filled with money-making poker machines. <a href="https://t.co/4m0iVxuzKo">pic.twitter.com/4m0iVxuzKo</a></p> — 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) <a href="https://twitter.com/60Mins/status/1464893015697149959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The newspaper, along with </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Age</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/post-lockdown-blitz-finds-millions-laundered-through-poker-machines-20211129-p59d3i.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reported</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that the state gaming department had been unable to access pokies data from The Star casino, despite the establishment of a centralised monitoring system that collects poker machine data in 2017.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The lack of access to The Star’s information was discovered earlier this year, after police asked the venue for information about the pokies habits of alleged drug trafficker Mende Trajkoski. It was later discovered that Mr Trajkoski had a $175 million poker machine turnover at The Star between 2007 and 2021.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Byrne said that states like Victoria likely face similar issues, and has urged the gambling industry and groups such as lobbyists ClubsNSW to take the issue seriously.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t think that clubs, where good, family-orientated people across NSW go to have dinner, want [patrons] to be walking past organised criminals laundering cash,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think, based on what we’re finding, they [pokies venues] need a wake-up call, definitely.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The allegations come as the Department of Liquor and Gambling has found additional video evidence of money laundering at clubs, with footage showing individuals picking up bags of cash in a carpark before gambling with it inside the club in a suspicious manner.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he has sought advice over the “very concerning” allegations made by the newspaper and </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">60 Minutes</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The publication also </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/1-billion-and-counting-investigator-reveals-size-of-poker-machine-crime-20211125-p59c0e.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reported</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that Mr Perrottet’s office was privately threatened by figures in the gaming industry that would be targeted by his proposed reforms to counter money laundering.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, a statement from ClubsNSW downplayed concerns that the industry needed reforms or that laundered money was a significant issue.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The groups and the people who are suspicious in the casino environment are often identified in the registered club and pub space,” Mr Byrne said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said the challenge “has always been finding the resources and time and budget to address” money laundering in a gaming environment.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Money & Banking

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How Westpac is alleged to have broken anti-money laundering laws 23 million times

<p>Australia’s second-biggest bank, Westpac, is poised to overtake the biggest, the Commonwealth Bank. Not in terms of assets, earnings or market capitalisation, but in having to pay the heftiest fine in Australian corporate history.</p> <p>Westpac is accused of breaching laws aimed at hindering criminal money laundering and the financing of terrorism. With some of those breaches involving supicious transactions in South-East Asia, it is alleged Westpac has potentially facilitated the most heinous of crimes – the commerce of child sex abuse.</p> <p>Each breach carries a penalty of up to A$63,000. Westpac is accused of 23 million breaches.</p> <p>That means it could potentially be fined more than A$1 trillion. The actual fine is likely to be bargained down, as Commonwealth Bank did in agreeing to pay <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-04/commonwealth-bank-pay-%24700-million-fine-money-laundering-breach/9831064">A$700 million</a> in 2018 for its own breaches of anti-money-laundering provisions.</p> <p>Even so, Westpac is still likely to be up for more than A$1 billion.</p> <p>So what exactly is it accused of doing wrong, and what should it have done? Here’s a quick guide to how Australia’s anti-money-laundering laws work.</p> <h2>Know your customer</h2> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303305/original/file-20191124-74599-8meo8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303305/original/file-20191124-74599-8meo8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Know your customer.</span> <span class="attribution"><a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-06/austrac-A3-poster-gambling_05.pdf" class="source">AUSTRAC poster</a></span></p> <p>The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (<a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/">AUSTRAC</a>) requires organisations that handle big amounts of money, such as banks and casinos, to monitor transactions and report suspicious ones.</p> <p>AUSTRAC assembles intelligence and passes it onto partner agencies such as the Australian Federal Police.</p> <p>The requirements spring from Australian legislation and obligations under international agreements.</p> <p>One of the better-known requirements is an obligation to report any cash transaction exceeding A$10,000.</p> <p>Less well-known, but perhaps more onerous, is the obligation to “know your customer”.</p> <p>“<a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/business/how-comply-and-report-guidance-and-resources/customer-identification-and-verification/customer-identification-know-your-customer-kyc">Know your customer</a>” means banks and other financial services organisations must collect information about their customers and assess their legitimate business behaviours before entering into an agreement, such as the provision of international money transfer services.</p> <p> </p> <p>Banks must then monitor ongoing customer transactions. If, for example, a business makes a large number of small cash transactions remitted to one overseas address then the bank needs to understand the purpose of the transactions and the legitimacy of the receiver.</p> <h2>What it’s alleged Westpac did</h2> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303308/original/file-20191124-74542-dk6sre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303308/original/file-20191124-74542-dk6sre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-11/20191120%20Westpac%20Concise%20Statement%20FILED%2019008953.pdf" class="source">Federal Court notice of filing</a></span></p> <p>AUSTRAC expects each organisation to identify patterns of risky transactions, such as third parties undertaking transfers to and from accounts for no apparent reason, or regular international funds transfers to high-risk jurisdictions.</p> <p>AUSTRAC claims Westpac <a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/about-us/media-release/civil-penalty-orders-against-westpac">failed</a> to appropriately assess transactions to the Philippines and South East Asia that have known financial indicators relating to potential child exploitation risks.</p> <p>Westpac is also accused of failing to understand and monitor transactions of money from its accounts to small intermediary banks located in countries where terrorist organisation are known to operate.</p> <p>This does not necessarily mean money was transferred to terrorists. It does mean there was a risk, and AUSTRAC should have been informed.</p> <h2>‘Fallen short’</h2> <p>The senior management of banks and other cash-handling organisations is expected to fully support anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing efforts. Among other things, a compliance officer is expected report to the board and be given the authority and resources to ensure the organisation is meeting its obligations.</p> <p>On Wednesday AUSTRAC accused Westpac’s senior management of indifference and failure to adequately invest in the technology and programs needed to monitor and report patterns of potentially suspicious transactions.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303311/original/file-20191124-74557-1vvydfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303311/original/file-20191124-74557-1vvydfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/791/FINAL_Media_Release_-_Response_Plan.pdf?1574568052" class="source">Westpac's weekend response.</a></span></p> <p>On Sunday Westpac’s chairman Lindsay Maxsted said based on its current understanding, the board did not believe that there has been any indifference by any member of the executive team, including its chief executive.</p> <p>But he said Westpac had “fallen short”.</p> <p>He understood “the gravity of the issues” and had “deep sorrow for failings by Westpac”.</p> <p>The bank would withhold all or part of bonuses from its executive team subject to the outcome of an external investigation, which would be made public.</p> <p>In the meantime Westpac announced a <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/791/FINAL_Media_Release_-_Response_Plan.pdf?1574568052">response plan</a> that includes closing one of the products used to facilitate transactions, lifting screening standards, and “protecting people” by, among other things, spending A$18 million over three years to tackle online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303313/original/file-20191124-74588-15ry74a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /> <span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/791/FINAL_Media_Release_-_Response_Plan.pdf?1574568052" class="source">Extract from Westpac's weekend response.</a></span></p> <h2>Not alone</h2> <p>Two years ago it was <a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/austrac-seeks-civil-penalty-orders-against-cba">Commonwealth Bank</a> that fell foul of AUSTRAC for allowing money to go out of the country without checks.</p> <p>Earlier this month the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-02/nab-working-with-austrac-on-money-laundering-counter-terrorism/10457136">National Australia Bank</a> confirmed that it too was also in discussions with AUSTRAC.</p> <p>The banking royal commission exposed ways in which elements within financial institutions seemed to regard strict compliance with the law as optional. AUSTRAC has has made it clear it is not, when it comes to money laundering.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127518/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em>Written by <span>Ian Fargher, Lecturer in Accounting, University of Wollongong</span>. Republished with permission of </em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/how-westpac-is-alleged-to-have-broken-anti-money-laundering-laws-23-million-times-127518" target="_blank"><em>The Conversation</em></a><em>.</em></p>

Retirement Income

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NAB faces heavy penalties after admitting money-laundering breach

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">National Australia Bank (NAB) faces the prospect of further remediation and a massive fine after revealing it might have made multiple breaches of counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering laws.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bank said in its annual report on Friday that it might have been involved in a breach or alleged breaches of laws governing bribery, corruption and financial crime.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NAB said it has self-reported “a number” of issues to financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bank also said that it provided documents and information to the financial intelligence watchdog.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NAB is unsure how deeply the issue had run as well as how significant any AUSTRAC penalty would be.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The potential outcome and total costs associated with the investigation and remediation process remain uncertain,” the bank said in its annual report, according to </span><a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2019/11/15/nab-penalty-money-laundering/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The New Daily</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Given the large volume of transactions that the group processes, the undetected failure of internal AML/CTF controls, or the ineffective implementation or remediation of compliance issues, could result in a significant number of breaches … and significant monetary penalties.”</span></p>

Money & Banking

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Commonwealth Bank accused of money laundering

<p><span>Foreign criminals were able to launder millions of dollars through Australia because the Commonwealth Bank of Australia allegedly failed to comply with strict money laundering and counter terrorism finance laws.</span></p> <p><span>The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) filed a motion in the Federal Court to prosecute CommBank alleging 53,700 contraventions of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws since 2012.</span></p> <p><span>According to the statement, part of the breaching of the laws stemmed from CommBank’s introduction of Intelligent Deposit Machines, similar to ATMs, but also accepting cash and cheque deposits.</span></p> <p><span>By June last year, $1 billion a month was being deposited via the machines.</span></p> <p><span>AUSTRAC has said these machines were being used by criminals wanting to move money from their drug manufacturing and trafficking sales offshore and domestically. It is understood some of the money laundering syndicates have been linked to known criminal figures, including Outlaw Motorcycle groups.</span></p> <p><span>In one instance, between November 2014 and August 2015, cash deposits amassing to $27.2 million were made to one account and almost immediately transferred offshore.</span></p> <p><span>“The deposits were the proceeds of a drug manufacture and importation syndicate,” the filed motion states.</span></p> <p><span>“Three individuals have been charged with dealing with proceeds of crime, with one of these individuals already having been convicted.”</span></p> <p><span>In another case, CommBank allegedly identified repeated suspected structured cash deposits to 16 accounts, 15 of them attached to fake names, that were moving cash to China.</span></p> <p><span>“Notwithstanding this suspicion, between April and 1 July 1 2015, CommBank permitted approximately $9.1 million to be transferred from these accounts to Hong Kong.”</span></p> <p><span>The Australian Federal Police has since found the accounts were opened by foreign nationals on holiday visas with the intention of making bulk cash deposits in Australia to launder tens of millions of dollars back overseas.</span></p> <p><span>Until late January, the abuse of Intelligent Deposit Machines continued with CommBank accepting $320,000 cash deposits over five days into one account.</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" dir="ltr"><img width="481" height="690" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40601/intext.jpg" alt="Intext (2)"/></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Image credit: Capital Monitor via Twitter</em></p> <p><span>AUSTRAC acting CEO Peter Clark said for a period of three years, CommBank did not comply with the requirements of its Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Finance program by failing to monitor transactions on 778,370 accounts.</span></p> <p><span>“AUSTRAC alleges that the bank failed to report suspicious matters either on time or at all involving transactions totalling over $77 million,” he said.</span></p> <p><span>“Even after CBA became aware of suspected money laundering or structuring on CBA accounts, it did not monitor its customers to mitigate and manage ... risk.”</span></p> <p><span>CommBank has released a statement acknowledging the civil proceedings that had been brought by AUSTRAC.</span></p> <p><span>“We have been in discussions with AUSTRAC for an extended period and have co-operated fully with their requests,” it said.</span></p> <p><span>“We take our regulatory obligations extremely seriously and we are one of the largest reporters to AUSTRAC. On an annual basis we report over four million transactions to AUSTRAC in an effort to identify and combat any suspicious activity as quickly and efficiently as we can.”</span></p>

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