Money laundering during five months of COVID-19 restrictions drove a $305 million increase in poker machine profits a spike that experts say shows the need for a gambling card. Latest figures from Liquor and Gaming NSW show profits increased more than 10 per cent compared to the same period last year despite the lockdown and restrictions on pubs and clubs.
Between June and October, profits increased from $2.8 billion last year to $3.1 billion, and in July, profits soared 23.3 per cent, up from $581 million in July 2019 to $716 million.
Australian Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello, who has responsibility for the sector, wants to introduce a gambling card to help problem gamblers but also to stamp out money laundering.
Poker machines would become cashless and gamblers required to register and pre-load money to the card, which would operate in a similar way to Opal cards for public transport. The gambling regulator blocked Crown Resorts from opening its $2.2 billion Sydney casino next month after a stunning 11th-hour admission to the inquiry that criminals probably laundered dirty cash through the group's bank accounts.
Experts said money laundering has links to "drugs, child sexual exploitation, people trafficking and financing terrorism" and criminals were increasingly washing cash in poker machines. Poker machines get targeted by criminal elements because they are a simple and cost-effective way of money laundering by washing cash through a machine,"
