Quick Guide 28: Money laundering through the gambling industry

Monica Guy

Senior Specialist / Team Lead Communications and External Relations
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

This quick guide sets out how criminals abuse the gambling industry to launder illicit funds. It includes numerous recent case studies to illustrate different ways of laundering money in casinos, online gambling websites, bars and clubs, as well as physical and online sports betting services.

The guide also looks at what gambling businesses and public authorities can do to better prevent and detect money laundering in this industry.

Basel AML Index launches API for easier integration into compliance and risk management systems

Companies and financial institutions around the world use the Expert Edition of the Basel AML Index to help evaluate money laundering/terrorist financing risks at the country level.

Smaller companies tend to use the Basel AML Index as a standalone geographic risk evaluation solution, as the dashboard enables quick access to 17 key indicators of money laundering/terrorist financing risk for 203 jurisdictions. Others apply it as an independent benchmarking tool to validate in-house risk assessments.

Case Study 7: Upholding an unexplained wealth judgement in Kenya’s Anglo Leasing affair

Monica Guy

Senior Specialist / Team Lead Communications and External Relations
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

This case study describes how Kenya’s civil illicit enrichment legislation enabled the recovery of corruptly acquired assets from a former Chief Accountant at the Treasury.

It examines a 2021 unexplained wealth (illicit enrichment) case in Kenya involving the former Chief Accountant Patrick Ochieno Abachi. The case is related to Kenya’s so-called Anglo Leasing scandal, in which 18 high-value government security contracts were allegedly awarded to fictitious companies in the early 2000s.

Cryptocurrencies key to tackling organised crime – Europol and Basel Institute on Governance

The 6th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies (#6CRC) – a two-day gathering of thousands of crypto specialists and financial investigators from law enforcement, regulators and the private sector – came to an end today at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands.

As cryptocurrency use expands into practically every country and sector, so does its abuse to commit new forms of crime and launder dirty money, said speakers.

Informal networks as investment: A qualitative analysis from Uganda and Tanzania

Monica Guy

Senior Specialist / Team Lead Communications and External Relations
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

Published in the peer-reviewed journal Governance, this paper interprets informal networks as investments made by citizens and business people to cope with the public sphere. Informal networks often orchestrate corruption, connecting public and private actors. The paper aims to understand their key characteristics, scopes, and functional roles.

For the sake of sustainability, clear out corruption – here's how accountants can play a role

Economic crimes are significant obstacles to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and professional accountants can play a pivotal role to clear a path. This guest blog by Kevin Dancey, CEO of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), marks the launch of IFAC’s new Action Plan for Fighting Corruption and Economic Crime.

Case Study 4: The Russian arms dealer case

Monica Guy

Senior Specialist / Team Lead Communications and External Relations
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

This case study explains how the Peruvian State used its non-conviction based forfeiture law, extinción de dominio, to recover a Swiss bank account containing illicit kickbacks paid for the purchase of war planes.

This case was the first of a series of cases between Peru and Switzerland involving Peru’s extinción de dominio law, which enables the confiscation of illicit assets in cases where a criminal conviction of an individual is not possible or desirable. It has paved the way for other proceedings, some of which are still pending in the tribunals.

Case Study 3: The Kazinda case: Putting Uganda’s illicit enrichment law to good use

Monica Guy

Senior Specialist / Team Lead Communications and External Relations
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

This case study explains how the Ugandan Inspectorate of Governance achieved a landmark prosecution of a former Principal Accountant in the Office of the Price Minister under the country’s illicit enrichment law.

On 28 October 2020, Uganda registered a landmark judgment under its illicit enrichment law in the case of Uganda v Geoffrey Kazinda. Although there have been a couple of other previously prosecuted illicit enrichment cases, the Kazinda case is the most significant because of the vast sum of money involved: a total of UGX 4,630,195,258 (over USD 1,252,600).