“The provision of political donations in itself is not illegal, however the unusual source of the funds, involving potentially covert international money movement, raises concerns for potential foreign interference. “Transactions indicate that entities who may be of concern from a foreign interference perspective could be using money held in casino accounts to make political donations with a link to foreign interference,” the report read. Some links were identified between junkets and possible foreign interference activities. “AUSTRAC notes one partner agency observed that the anonymity facilitated by the junket business model makes it impossible to assess whether junkets pose a risk in relation to terrorism financing because the source and beneficiary of transactions is obscured, and the transactions of individual targets cannot be assessed against actual gaming,” the report read. The anti-money laundering watchdog says junket operators who bring wealthy Asian gamblers to Australian casinos have been exploited or infiltrated by criminals and. I do not see a material impact beyond the slightly incremental revenue that the junkets will provide to RWS at this point.
It did not identify any links between junket activity and the financing of terrorism. Junket licensing has always been a part of the regulatory structure in Singapore since the integrated casino resorts became operational.
The AUSTRAC report found the sector faced multiple criminal threats, especially money laundering.ĪUSTRAC found junkets were a medium threat to national security.