Casino Talks

Posted by: Jetset at July 11, 2003, 1:21 am

Topic: Global-player withdrawal problem Forum: Winner Online

MONEY LAUNDERING 'SERIOUS' FOR ANTIGUA

But player protection is important too

Last week we reported on the use of the Antigua and Barbuda anti-money laundering regulations to delay a player payment at Global Player Casino, an operation with a ery respectable history.

The concern was that less scrupulous casino owners may use these ery necessary measures as an excuse to stall on player payouts. However, having discussed the issue in some depth with Ron Maginley the Antiguan Director of Gaming this would appear highly unlikely.

Ron told us that the regulations pertaining to online gambling operations licensed by Antigua are on a par with offshore banking laws when it comes to stringency of application and penalties. Every casino company is required to have a well-briefed Compliance Officer on staff at a senior level, and the operations are required to report any suspicious or fraudulent behaviour immediately and in any case within 24 hours by way of an SAR (Suspicious Activity Report) to the Antiguan authorities.

When making such a report the casino should not reveal to the player that an SAR has been submitted. This is for the obvious reason that the first prize for everyone is a would-be terrorist or money launderer tracked and apprehended, hopefully with accomplices or principals. For this same reason the account should not be "frozen" or otherwise tampered with.

Funds involved in transactions which turn out to be money laundering are seized by Court Order obtained by the authorities.

Maginley says that the reaction to a report is immediate and rapid as required by international guidelines aimed at catching those responsible. The investigation teams use a number of confidential, sophisticated techniques and priorities. It is therefore unlikely that the follow-up and clearance will take any sort of extended period. In fact, says Maginley most reports are the result of "...an abundance of caution" on the part of operators and are resolved almost immediately.

When we were told that penalties for misuse are almost as draconian as for the laundering itself (5 years and up to a million dollars in fines) we could understand why operators take the cautious line!

Maginley assured us that players at casinos licensed by his country are a major priority as far as the Directorate is concerned.

"We want to assure players that we are intent not only on international money laundering compliance, but on the protection of the player and on providing him or her with a safe environment in which to gamble in private", he said. "Every site licensed by Antigua and Barbuda is required to have a link through which disgruntled players can reach our site, where a complaint can be made or a check can be carried out", he said.

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