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Another salvo fired at casinos
By Kim Helfrich
JOHANNESBURG – The cards are on the table over the casino/money laundering issue with the allegation one casino demands ink-stained notes be honoured when presented at banks.
National Gambling Board chairman Chris Fismer said to the best of his knowledge there was only one casino insisting on its right to present ink-stained notes as legal tender.
“The casino alleges the money came into their possession unknowingly but the board does not support this claim.” He was not prepared to name the casino apparently using this practice.
Addressing a Johannesburg business meeting last week, SA Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni said casinos were used by cash-in- transit robbers to launder their ill- gotten gains. He maintained stolen cash was taken to casinos, exchanged for chips and then changed back into notes at another window.
Fismer said South African casinos were “very co-operative” in adhering to requirements to stop money laundering.
“Technology has advanced to the stage that the use of ink-stained bank notes has been minimised and, if used, bill validators will easily identify them.”
The board is a supervisory body enacted by statute to supervise casinos’ compliance with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.
Fismer said the local gambling industry was one of the most highly regulated and strictest industries in SA. Casino Association of South Africa chief executive Derek Auret said the sophisticated security systems in place at casinos detected criminal activity, including attempted money laundering.
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