GGRAsia – Weapons finance scrutiny to be part of Singapore casino AML

Weapons finance scrutiny to be part of Singapore casino AML

Jul 03, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Singapore, Top of the deck

Singapore’s parliament gave a first reading on Tuesday to a bill that will – among other things – amend the city-state’s Casino Control Act to tighten requirements for casino operators to conduct due diligence on the source of player funds.

The information was set out in a press release issued the same day by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The proposed enabling measure is the Anti-Money Laundering and Other Matters Bill.

Singapore has a casino duopoly shared between Resorts World Sentosa, operated by Genting Singapore Ltd, and Marina Bay Sands, promoted by Las Vegas Sands Corp.

In relation to casino due diligence, the amendent will cover not only the topics of anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT), but now also “proliferation financing”.

The Paris-based watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) defines the latter as funds or financial services used for nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in contravention of national laws or international obligations.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs noted: “To align our processes with the FATF standards, the changes will require casino operators to also consider proliferation financing risks when conducting customer due diligence checks.”

The statement added, referring to the local gaming regulator: “The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore will be empowered to issue regulations requiring casino operators to detect or prevent proliferation financing.”

The ministry noted that currently the country’s casino operators are required to perform customer due diligence on patrons when the casino operator either enters a single cash transaction involving SGD10,000 (US$7,371) or more, or receives SGD5,000 or more in a single transaction to be deposited into a customer deposit account.

“The quantum for when customer due diligence checks is required will be lowered to cover cash transactions or deposits involving SGD4,000 or more,” confirmed the ministry.

Casinos not ‘directly complicit’

The Money Laundering Risk Assessment Report Singapore 2024, publicised recently by the Singapore authorities, stated that while the city’s casinos faced “moderately high” risk in relation to being exposed to such crime, the relevant enforcement agencies “have not encountered any instance where the casinos were found to be directly complicit in money laundering activities in Singapore”.

That report added the authorities had “only observed a low number of cases where criminal proceeds were converted to casino chips for self-laundering purposes”.

Though it noted: “Nonetheless, our law enforcement agencies have investigated a handful of cases concerning third-party money laundering facilitated by a casino.”

A case study quoted by the report mentioned an alleged conspiracy to cheat vessel owners of fuel not actually delivered.

One of the accused perpetrators was found to have used most of his alleged proceeds of crime, amounting to about SGD1.9 million, to purchase casino chips “at one of the casinos” in Singapore, stated the report, without naming the property. It added that “court proceedings are ongoing”.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Other Matters Bill will also ease the burden of proof placed on the authorities in relation to money laundering.

The bill will amend the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act so that the prosecution need not show a direct link between the criminal conduct and the monies allegedly laundered in Singapore.

“It will be sufficient for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the money launderer knew or had reasonable grounds to believe that he was dealing with criminal proceeds,” stated the Ministry of Home Affairs update.

It added: “This will facilitate the prosecution of money mules in cases where the monies laundered had passed through bank accounts and intermediaries in foreign jurisdictions, before entering Singapore.”

Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai, Singapore’s prime minister, said at a June 26 session of the FATF plenary meeting held in Singapore, that experience and lessons gleaned by the Singapore authorities from their handling of a recent SGD3-billion money laundering case would “be used to strengthen” the city-state’s regulations and enforcement efforts.

In June, the last of 10 foreign nationals involved in that matter – people who had been accused of laundering proceeds from Southeast Asian gambling operations by using them for luxury goods and properties in Singapore – was sentenced by a Singapore court.