SPORTS BETTING
Australia – Greyhound Promotions to be fined by VGCCC
By Phil - 18 July 2023
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) charged the operator of Springvale gaming venue Greyhound Promotions Pty Ltd for allegedly failing to ensure payouts of electronic gaming machine credits were made legally.
Greyhound Promotions Pty Ltd is facing five charges of allegedly contravening the Gambling Regulation Act 2003.
It is alleged that the licensee allowed a practice in the venue where a person would approach a player who had substantial credits on an electronic gaming machine and pay that player cash for those credits
It issued cheques to persons who were not the ones gambling on the electronic gaming machine when the money was won The charges could attract a maximum penalty of up to $80,770.20.
“Venues have a clear legal requirement to do all they can to ensure the industry is free from criminal influence,” said Annette Kimmitt, VGCCC CEO.
Venue operators and their staff should check CCTV footage to verify the player is the one getting the payout when issuing cheques. They also need to be on the lookout for and stop people in their gaming machine area paying players cash for gaming machine credits.
“We are watching venues closely through data monitoring and intelligence to detect suspicious activity and working closely with other enforcement agencies to stamp out criminal activity,” said Kimmitt. “Venue operators should note that they also have a legal obligation to stamp out this activity within their venues. As these charges are now before the courts, we will not be providing further comment.”
In mid-2021, the VGCCC conducted cheque payment data analysis and detected suspicious activity. Greyhounds Promotions Pty Ltd was flagged as the top-ranked Victorian venue for issuing cheques over a period of time.
Following our initial investigation, the VGCCC alerted the Australian Federal Police (AFP). On 15 February 2022, a joint operation was launched by the AFP, AUSTRAC and the VGCCC into alleged money laundering.
