Betting on poker machines in Sydney and New South Wales leapt substantially in 2017 causing concerns among regulators that the machines are being used for money laundering.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, betting on the poker machines rose by A$1.3 billion, with the largest spikes in western areas of Sydney.
More than Australian $80 billion dollars was staked on poker machines last financial year, according to figures released by regulators. Betting at pubs and clubs increased about A$120 million more than the previous year.
“Last year we had a 75 percent increase in the number of pubs and clubs that submitted suspicious activity reports,” a spokesman for the federal anti-money laundering agency told the paper.
AUSTRAC has focused on pubs and clubs as part of an education campaign to clampdown on suspicious transactions. The state of new South Wales has also begun to monitor tens of thousands of machines for suspicious trends, the report said.
According to the paper, the Fairfield area led in gambling revenue with A$8.4 billion through the area’s gaming machines. That represent a 20 percent increase over 2013/14. The figures show that Fairfield residents stake significantly more money than in neighboring areas.
Data also showed that amount being staked by gamblers is growing more quickly than the amount they lose.
The paper quoted unnamed police sources as saying that money laundering by drug dealers had a long history in Fairfield. The method typically involved recruiting problem gamblers and offering them a percentage of money to wash through machines.,
Advocates for problem gambling, however, said the bulk of money lost at poker machines comes from addicted gamblers and problem gaming programs aren’t having a significant impact.
In another story, Australian news reports pointed out that the country’s largest poker machine manufacturer—Aristocrat Leisure—is expected to reap a windfall due to the recent slash of corporate taxes in the U.S.
The corporate tax rate in the U.S. has been reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent, which boosted the earnings forecast for ASX-listed Aristocrat Leisure, which has an extensive slot machine and digital gaming presence in North America. Analysts estimate that 70 percent of the company’s overall earnings come in the U.S.
Aristocrat recently completed a $990 million takeover of social games site Big Fish Games, which has more than 12.4 million active users every month.
