CANBERRA: Australia’s financial intelligence unit, AUSTRAC, is taking wagering and keno operator Tabcorp to court, claiming that Tabcorp has failed to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
AUSTRAC has launched civil penalty proceedings against Tabcorp in the Federal Court.
The maximum penalty for a contravention of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws is $17 million.
AUSTRAC said on Wednesday that it had made a long and comprehensive assessment of Tabcorp’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance, and that Tabcorp had failed to take steps to make improvements.
‘Non-compliance of this nature provides opportunities for organised crime to exploit vulnerabilities and puts at risk the integrity of the Australian financial system,’ AUSTRAC said in a statement.
‘AUSTRAC works to keep dirty money out of our financial system, which helps protect the Australian community from serious and organised crime.’
Tabcorp said it had been advised on Wednesday that AUSTRAC had launched the legal proceedings against it. ‘Tabcorp takes its compliance obligations extremely seriously,’ the company said in a statement.
‘Tabcorp is reviewing the nature of the proceedings and will inform the market of its intended response.’ Shares in Tabcorp were 10.5 cents lower at $4.875 at 1219 AEST.
