‘Potential money laundering’ activities lead to $170,000 fine for GTA casino

Pickering Casino Resort operator Great Canadian Entertainment has been hit with a $170,000 fine from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario for failing to adequately identify, assess and monitor high-risk patrons and report suspicious activity, including “potential money laundering indicators” at the casino.

An AGCO compliance audit of Pickering Casino identified several failures by Great Canadian to properly assess and track “high-risk patrons” that were not subject to enhanced scrutiny as required by their license. The review also found that required Suspicious Transaction Reports were not filed in several cases where gamblers showed signs of potential money laundering.

Ontario’s gaming standards require casino operators to have effective measures in place to identify and respond to suspicious activity – including reporting suspected money laundering.

“Meeting these obligations is essential to maintaining a safe and well-regulated gaming environment. When this doesn’t happen, it weakens safeguards designed to detect unlawful conduct and can undermine public confidence in Ontario’s regulated gaming sector,” said AGCO CEO Dr. Karin Schnarr.

“The AGCO requires casino operators to take a proactive approach to identifying and reporting suspicious activity,” he said, adding that the commission will “continue to hold operators accountable to high standards of responsible operation.”

A casino operator served with an Order of Monetary Penalty has the right to appeal the registrar’s action within 15 days to the Licence Appeal Tribunal, an adjudicative body that is part of Tribunals Ontario and independent of the AGCO.

The violations:

• Contrary to section 6.1 of the Standards: Great Canadian Entertainment failed to have mechanisms in place to reasonably identify and prevent unlawful activities at Pickering Casino Resort, including by failing to conduct adequate risk assessments and appropriately monitor and analyze player transactions for possible unlawful activity.
• Contrary to section 6.3 of the Standards: Great Canadian Entertainment failed to have reasonable measures in place to identify and prevent suspected money laundering activities at Pickering Casino Resort, including by failing to implement risk-based policies and procedures that provide escalating measures for patrons who engage in behaviour consistent with money laundering indicators.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is a provincial regulatory agency that oversees the alcohol, cannabis, gaming and horse racing sectors in Ontario.