Tweet Acquisition of PokerStars A Canadian company, Amaya Gaming Group Inc., announced it has entered into a $4.9 billion deal to acquire all of the shares of Oldford Group, the Isle of Man company that operates PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. PokerStars was founded by Canadian Isai Scheinberg. Amaya said that it believes the transaction […]
Tweet According to a report released by McAfee Labs, available here entitled “Jackpot! Money Laundering Through Online Gambling,” the global online gambling sector appears to be rife with money laundering problems and Bitcoin is facilitating it. It may be that money laundering is happening on a large scale through unlicensed online gambling websites but the report […]
Tweet Surprising criminal conviction of two Hong Kong tycoons In a surprising decision, the Macau Court of First Instance has convicted two high-profile Hong Kong businessmen of money laundering. Joseph Lau Luen-hung, and Stephen Lo Kit-sing, each received a sentence of five years and three months in prison and were sentenced in absentia. Mr. Lau […]
Tweet Money laundering For junket operators Bloomberg has a great story on the rise and fall of Carson Yeung Ka-shing, the Hong Kong businessman and owner of the Birmingham City football club, convicted earlier this week of laundering $93 million through, inter alia, junket operators and casinos in Macau. Mr. Yeung was arrested in June […]
Tweet Money laundering is more prevalent than elsewhere According to a recent survey of business people who operate and do business in Hong Kong and Macau, money laundering is a huge problem and in fact, is more prevalent there than anywhere else in the world. The results of the survey which were reported in South China […]
Tweet Carson Yeung, the Hong Kong tycoon who is on trial in Hong Kong for alleged money laundering admitted in Court that he accepted 12 wire transfers totalling approximately $2 million in funds from a Macau casino that were sent by an alleged Triad boss – Cheung Chi Tai. Mr. Cheung is also alleged to […]
Tweet Anti-money laundering investigation Caesars Entertainment Corp. said today that FinCEN is investigating it for potential violations of the Bank Secrecy Act over anti-money laundering compliance issues. The statement was made in its filings with the Securities Exchange Commission. According to the statement, FinCEN is considering whether to assess a civil penalty or take enforcement […]
Tweet This article was originally published in Asia Gambling Brief. Macau junket operators of casino VIP rooms working on image Some of Macau’s biggest junket operators — also known as VIP gambling promoters — are planning to exhibit at next month’s Macau Gaming Show in a sign this integral part of the local gaming scene […]
Tweet Mafia Crackdown in Rome Italian police arrested over 120 people today in its largest crackdown on mafia activities around Rome, including several lawyers alleged to have undertaken transactions and incorporated companies on behalf of the ‘Ndrangheta. According to the police, the ‘Ndrangheta ran multiple gambling operations and drug trafficking operations, and laundered the proceeds […]
Tweet Junkets branching out According to this article by Reuters, traditional junket operators (also known as VIP gaming promoters) in Macau are branching out to diversify their businesses and improve their reputation. The largest junket operator, Suncity Group, is planning to open its own casino and has expanded into mining and iron ore operations in […]