By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Sandown Greyhounds pokies venue’s operator faces potential fines of up to $80,770 after being charged with allegedly allowing illegal payouts from its machines.
Greyhounds Promotions Pty Ltd was charged by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission with five counts of failing to ensure payouts were made legally.
It comes in the wake of a joint investigation by the VGCCC, AUSTRAC and the Australian Federal Police into alleged money laundering at the venue.
On 6 September last year, AFP officers raided the Springvale Greyhounds gaming venue and two homes in Springvale South and Noble Park.
Officers allegedly seized more than $170,000 in cash and gold bullions in the Springvale South house.
According to police, the syndicate laundered millions of dollars in illicit cash at the Springvale Greyhounds venue by paying patrons to sign-over their jackpot cheques from gaming machines.
The cheques would be issued in the name of a syndicate member, and deposited into a bank as purportedly legitimate gambling winnings.
Tram Ngoc Tran, 49, of Springvale South, and Noble Park pair Lan Huong Lam, 61, and Xuan Huynh, 63, were charged by the AFP with engaging in conduct with general crime proceeds valued at $1 million or more.
As part of their bail conditions, they are banned from gaming venues.
The trio are expected to next appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 26 July.
In a statement, VGCCC alleged Greyhounds Promotions allowed a practice in which a person would a player who had substantial credits on a gaming machine and pay them cash for the credits.
It’s also claimed that the licensee issued cheques to people who weren’t the ones gambling on the machines when money was won.
“Venues have a clear legal requirement to do all they can to ensure the industry is free from criminal influence,” VGCCC chief executive Annette Kimmitt said.
“Venue operators and their staff should check CCTV footage to verify the player is the one getting the payout when issuing cheques.
“They also need to be on the lookout for and stop people in their gaming machine area paying players cash for gaming machine credits.”
Ms Kimmitt said the VGCCC were using data monitoring and intelligence to detect “suspicious activity” at gaming venues.
