Terrorists launder cash through online gambling

**BingoT** · 2nd January 2009, 04:57 PM

Terrorists launder cash through online gambling
Islamic terrorist networks are using online gambling websites to launder money for attacks, security analysts have disclosed.
By Thomas Harding Defence Correspondent
The Terrorists story

**Westland Bowl** · 2nd January 2009, 05:32 PM

The article is very short on details as to how online gambling is used to launder money. I don't see how they can launder the money through existing online casinos who have stringent documentation standards. Do terrorists just play a couple of spins on a slot then request a payout of their deposit? Or do they set up a casino they control? (in retrospect, I guess the same way they set up brick and mortar businesses as a front.)

**vinylweatherman** · 2nd January 2009, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by Westland Bowl

The article is very short on details as to how online gambling is used to launder money. I don't see how they can launder the money through existing online casinos who have stringent documentation standards. Do terrorists just play a couple of spins on a slot then request a payout of their deposit? Or do they set up a casino they control? (in retrospect, I guess the same way they set up brick and mortar businesses as a front.)

Criminals will try several ways till they find one that works for them. In money laundering, they expect to lose a considerable portion of the cash they launder, and may be happy if only 50% or even less of "dirty" money comes back as "clean".

Oddly enough, some stories I see hear would make it EASIER, not HARDER for money to be laundered. These relate to cases where casinos REFUSE to pay back to the method of deposit, but INSIST on a different method. This is a weakness in the system of controls against money laundering, and once noticed, criminals simply need to figure out a way to exploit said weakness.
The problems is that most casinos are not so much worried about "money laundering", even though they often blame this external FATF regulation when having to give an excuse for a choice of payment method. What is number one priority is THEIR security and PROFITABILITY, and if this clashes with guidelines laid down by the FATF, then stuff them.

An example is the curiosity of a load of Playtech casinos taking deposits from Neteller, but insisting on paying withdrawals through a different means. A criminal group might notice this as a weakness in the system, and see therefore that if they could inject "dirty" money into a Neteller account, they could circumvent the normal rules that would have it just coming straight back to that Neteller account, and could then set up an account to receive the withdrawals. This then begins the process of laundering the cash. All that is needed then is a series of transactions from the account receiving the withdrawal to make it hard to establish a connection between the owner details of the depositing Neteller account, and the owner(s) of where the funds sit when "clean". Casinos would indeed get quite a bit of play from the deposits, the LAST thing the criminal wants is to have the accounts audited for "bonus abuse" or "using the casino as a bank". If they are prepared to lose 50% in the process, they can give the casino so much action they end up becoming VIP, but this, strangely, might ruin their scheme, as being a VIP seems to get winnings paid back through Neteller, which they will always have to be pretending is what they wanted in the first place.

As for terrorists doing this, well if criminal organisations can do it, so can terrorists. Naturally, this kind of story, and with "proof", is exactly the kind of thing the USA needs, as it makes their actions, including UIGEA, as a PROVEN method of fighting terrorism, rather than simply protrecting internal interests. This will make UIGEA far more popular with US Citizens, and thus easier to make it acceptable, despite any minor inconvenience it causes to a small number of gamblers among the several hundred million people that need protecting.

**Westland Bowl** · 2nd January 2009, 06:38 PM

Well, then, all USA needs to do is set up a False Flag operation to make it look like terrorists are doing this all the while the government would be behind it in order to provide "evidence" needed to pass more stringent online gambling legislation.

**jetset** · 2nd January 2009, 07:39 PM

The Telegraph article mentions online gambling in one par and almost in passing in the Telegraph story that is actually centred on claims that Al Qaida has started a sort of Internet 101 series aimed at mainly teenagers with judgement deficiencies and an attitude problem.

The fact that a number of other publications have since seized on it with headlines like "online gambling used to launder money" is a sad reflection on selective reportage imo.

I can only echo Westland's observation that: "The article is very short on details as to how online gambling is used to launder money. I don't see how they can launder the money through existing online casinos who have stringent documentation standards."

Because of the sensitivity of the money laundering claims, tracking capabilities and as part of FICA compliance, online casinos are probably the least likely venues for money laundering on the Internet, yet these claims persist.

I recall not long ago some FBI nabob making a generalised claim which when pressed he was unable to substantiate.

I suspect this falls in the same misinformed category.

**anniemac** · 2nd January 2009, 08:08 PM

As long as it is taking me to get my money from Absolute Slots, I don't see where laundering money thru an online casino would be a worthwhile endevour.

**Simmo!** · 2nd January 2009, 08:22 PM

On the bright side, only 23% of the UK population trust the newspapers anymore anyway.

And let's be honest - stories like this you can just sit in your bedroom and make up with the most tenuous of links and no-one can disprove it. "US housewives fund terrorism" would be an equally plausible headline if a member of Al Qaeda has shares in Wal-Mart.

**GaryWatson** · 2nd January 2009, 08:29 PM

It is fairly easy to launder money online and im sure its not restricted to terrorism. There are terrorists on both sides and most in between is propaganda.

Ive heard this sort of story for years, no different from the fake dvd sales. It's linked to you boosting criminal organizasions for buying a DVD. You personally caused heroin to flood your childs school.

Crime happens, it only makes sense for criminals to launder and potentially multiply their earnings like other businesses.

P.S. I wish everyone had a great x-mas and good luck for 2009