Bet365 probed for money-laundering in Australia

The Australian financial authorities probe Britain’s gambling company Bet365 over its compliance with the local anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing laws.

Bet365 is just the latest gambling company to come under the radar of The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac).

In 2020 Austrac fined Westpac bank with the record 1,3 billion AUD ($860 mln.) over similar compliance issues and lately has its eye turned on the gambling sector in general and casinos and betting companies in particular in its effort to curb money laundering by criminal gangs and terrorist organizations.

Now Austrac said it is launching a formal investigation into Bet365 – one of the larger gambling corporations on the Australian market.

“Corporate bookmakers must have robust systems in place to ensure they can manage and mitigate risks associated with money laundering and terrorism financing”, Brendan Thomas Austrac CEO said in a statement. “Businesses without adequate processes in place to manage those risks leave themselves vulnerable to exploitation by criminals.”

Austrac has already taken action against Bet365. In 2022 the watchdog ordered Bet365’s local subsidiary Hillside (Australia New Media) to appoint external financial auditors at its own cost and to report the findings.

Also in 2022 Austrac launched a formal investigation over compliance with anti-money laundering against Entain – an international sports betting and gambling company listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, which also owns Ladbrokes Coral.

The financial authorities around the world fear substantial amounts of money are laundered through bookmakers on a regular basis.

Bet365 is a British gambling company founded in 2000. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are conducted from its headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, alongside a satellite office in Malta.