S.Korea Daegu Casino fined US$776k for AML breaches 

Sep 29, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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The Daegu Casino in South Korea has been fined KRW1.05 billion (US$776,512) for regulatory breaches, including anti-money laundering (AML) failures, over a three-year span. The fine was issued in September by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a body under South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, according to local media reports.

The South Korean authorities also issued a warning notice to one of Daegu Casino’s executives, added the reports.

The FIU took action after an investigation into the foreigner-only casino at Hotel Inter-Burgo in Daegu, in the southeast of the country.

According to the reports, the FIU said that Daegu Casino failed to verify – between July 2019 and April 2023 – the identity and occupation of 58 patrons, who either individually transacted more than KRW3.0 million or that were considered “high risk customers” under existing AML policies.

Additionally, the FIU disclosed that Daegu Casino “delayed or failed” to report 24 instances of “high-value casino chip transactions” during certain periods of 2019.

Based on its findings, the FIU ordered Daegu Casino to implement some policy changes. Those included: overhauling its “suspicious transaction reporting” system; as well as developing a digital system and allocating staff for AML training.

The FIU resumed in January 2022 inspection of the AML compliance of nine casino venues on South Korea’s mainland, after “a temporary halt” due to pandemic-related business closures.The pause had started in 2020, a representative told GGRAsia at the time.

According to the FIU spokesperson, the maximum fine per AML violation by any entity was KRW100 million. Any entity found in violation could also risk the dismissal of the board member responsible for AML at the time of the infraction.

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