Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) had announced that it will review a report released by the British Columbia government which detailed a pattern of possibly anomalous transactions at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond.

The report revealed that River Rock accepted single cash buy-ins in excess of C$500k (US $405k) from “high roller Asian VIP clients” who often displayed “no known source of funds.” One such incident was recorded in July 2015 when the casino reportedly received $13.5m in U.S. $20 bills. Another incident which raised eyebrows was when one punter bought $490k worth of chips with over 22,000 U.S. $20 bills.

It turns out that FINTRAC directly addressed River Rock’s shortcomings in a letter sent to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) last year, which only just surfaced among the documents in the government’s buried report. In the letter, FINTRAC regional compliance manager Robby Judge noted that BCLC’s own compliance staff “acknowledged that [anti-money laundering] training was deficient” at River Rock.

The FINTRAC officer learned that 80% of casino staff had only a basic understanding of money laundering, while most staffers were equally unaware of “suspicious transaction indicators relevant to the casinos sector.” He also warned that River Rock’s “failure to meet all legislative provisions may lead to civil penalties or criminal liabilities.”

The investigation of the reportedly illegal activities at River Rock will likely trigger a chain reaction of inspection of British Columbia casinos where their adherence to anti-money laundering compliance measures will be evaluated. This move is long-overdue and should be pursued vigorously by authorities.  

In this edition of CalvinAyre.com’s Shared Experience, Dr. Sam Liggero of Tufts Gordon Institute identifies the frequent mistake leaders make in business today.

The Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is set to release a casino regulatory framework by the third week of October.

The Malta Gaming Authority has ordered the conduct of a ‘sandbox test’ of its cryptocurrency controls before allowing Malta-licensed online gambling operators to accept digital currencies such as Bitcoin.

Seattle-based eSports betting platform Unikrn has raised $15 million in its initial coin offering (ICO) pre-sale for its UnikoinGold tokens.

The average online poker player worldwide stats: 73.8% are male, roughly 30% are between the ages of 26 to 35; 26.8% play from two to three times every week and 34% play both regular cash tables and in tournaments.

Graphical Search Inventory – Images and banner ads that are tied to particular search terms on a search engine. They are then displayed to the user after a related search term is entered.

Slotegrator, through its business development manager Vadim Potapenko, will participate in the Riga Gaming Congress that will be held on October 12 in Riga, Latvia.

Congratulations to Steven “SvZff” van Zadelhoff for winning the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event. He beat 2,183 players to win the $1.6 million top prize.