Ontario’s Fallsview Casino to Appeal $70K Fine for Alleged Money Laundering Failures
Fallsview Casino Resort inward Ontario tells Casino.org that it “respectfully disagrees” with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s (AGCO) determination to amercement the gaming holding for allegedly violating money laundering regulations.
The AGCO this hebdomad levied a C$70,000 (US$52,039) mulct against the Fallsview Casino after the provincial gaming regulator concluded that the cassino failed to forgather regulatory conditions inward set to belittle the risk of infection of wrongful activity on its gaming floor, specifically money laundering.
The regulatory cited an incident in April 2023 involving a patron entering the Salon Prive cassino with C$80,000 in cash in stuffed inward a reusable foodstuff bag. The immediate payment was reportedly all CA$100 bills.
Surveillance picture showed the somebody change the immediate payment for gaming chips at a tabulate spunky before leaving without gambling. Fallsview faculty identified the somebody as “high risk” but reportedly failed to notify the AGCO and on-site law almost the dealings as required past Ontario anti-money laundering rules.
The casino manipulator also failed to read any meaningful steps to ascertain and underpin the patron’s seed of funds, as is required by anti-money laundering rules go under come out inwards the Registrar’s Standards for Gaming,” the AGCO financial statement explained.
“The prevention of wrongful activities at Ontario’s gaming sites is a key precedence for the AGCO. Casino operators have got an important role to child's play and must occupy steps to effectively name and forbid criminal activity from occurring on their gaming sites,” the tone ending added.
Fallsview Rejects Allegations
Fallsview Casino Resort emailed Casino.org a statement rebuffing the AGCO allegations. Fallsview is owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG). Its operations are leased to Mohegan, the gaming entity of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut.
As a responsible for(p) gaming operator, Fallsview Casino Resort is dedicated to identifying and preventing wrongful activities. Our keep company has a culture and account of unity and transparency, and a longstanding loyalty to compliance in Ontario,” the Fallsview financial statement read.
The casino said it “will follow appealing” the AGCO penalty and looks forrad “to presenting our case.”
Mohegan acquired the operating rights to Fallsview and Casino Niagara Falls inwards 2019 after the OLGC decided to sell cancelled the management. Terms of the business deal weren’t disclosed, but Mohegan pledged to put “several c million” into the properties.
Provincial Crackdown
After casinos were allowed to reopen inward Ontario inward July 2021, the government of Canada’s to the highest degree thickly settled province proclaimed new initiatives to break combat money laundering schemes. The AGCO formed a task force to monitor big immediate payment transactions at provincial casinos.
The AGCO said it expected a rush along of illicit activities after casinos and other places criminals essay and utilisation to launder grime cash were closed in(p) because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, and associated closures and physical distancing measures, has disrupted some money laundering methods — in particular those that rely on the emplacement of illicit hard cash into cash-intensive businesses,” a July 2020 cover from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) read.
The AGCO task strength has been working with the Ontario Provincial Police and OLG inwards supervising hard cash transactions at the province’s casinos.