Crown Casino enabled Chinese crime syndicates to launder money:'Easier than using a bank'
Junket operators are licensed by casinos to lure Chinese high-stakes gamblers .Such tour operators have been used by Crown Resorts in Melbourne and Perth
Chinese criminal syndicates have been linked to some of these Junket operators. In 2013, Roy Moo was convicted of laundering money by exploiting Crown
In 2016, the Chinese government cracked down on gambling promotion. The operation led to the arrest of 19 former and serving Crown employees.
Tour operators with links to powerful Asian crime gangs were used by Crown Resorts to lure Chinese high rollers to its Melbourne and Perth casinos, it has been claimed.
A criminal syndicate known as 'The Company' allegedly used Crown-linked bank accounts and high roller rooms to launder funds, a joint investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes has revealed.
Asian criminal syndicates, known as triads, have been linked to Chinese junket operators, who are licensed to bring in wealthy punters to Australian casinos.
These junket operators specialise in marketing overseas casinos to Chinese high-stakes gamblers and can arrange trips and credit for them.
They manage the gamblers' local funds and liaise with the casinos, who pay them to drum up business.
While some junket operators are legitimate, others are controlled by Asian criminal syndicates, according to the US Government, industry analysts, and Australian law enforcement.
One of these criminal syndicates, The Company, has been linked to criminal activity in Australia for decades.
A 2013 interview between Australian Federal Police and one junket operator, released to The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, revealed he was hired by The Company because he had contacts at Crown Casino.
Roy Whye Wah Moo said he was recruited by The Company due to his 'mutual trust,' with Crown and because laundering money through the casino was 'easier than using a bank.'
In December 2013, former financial advisor Moo of Doncaster East, Victoria was jailed for two years after he admitted to using Melbourne Crown Casino linked bank accounts to launder $682,000.
Moo was an authorised representative of the Ang Junket Group – which arranged trips to Crown Casino for Asian visitors – and conducted financial transactions using a Crown Patrons Identity.
The arrest was the first confirmation The Company was exploiting Crown to launder money - with Moo revealing to police it was easier to move 'black money' through Crown than a bank.
CCTV vision of Moo uncovered during the investigation shows him dumping bundles of cash from a plastic bag onto the counter of a Crown cashier.
This money was then wired via Crown's accounts to members of The Company in Hong Kong, according to The SMH.
Crown's attempts to lure big gamblers to their Melbourne and Perth casinos prompted a Chinese government anti-corruption operation in October 2016.
The crackdown resulted in 19 former and serving Crown employees being arrested by Chinese authorities.
Jason O'Connor, head of Crown's 'international VIP' programs was convicted of promoting gambling on the Chinese mainland where it is outlawed.
Another of the 19 employees that were arrested is Jenny Jiang who spent a month in a Chinese prison.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7291393/How-Crown-Casino-enabled-Chinese-gangs-launder-money.html