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All posts tagged: The Spectacular Failure of Government-Sanctioned Gambling

U.S. Treasury Warns Casinos for Facilitating Money Laundering By Criminal Rings

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The U.S. Treasury Department is urging casinos to take steps to combat money laundering in their sports books. Regulators and law enforcement authorities are concerned by intelligence suggesting that criminals are making bets with legal sports book operations, using intermediaries, or “runners,” to place bets, the Treasury bureau said.

“In these cases, the intermediaries rarely voluntarily disclose to the casino that a transaction is being conducted on behalf of a third party, thereby disguising the third party’s role in the transaction and obscuring the source of funds used to place the bet. This poses distinct money laundering risks for casinos,” FinCEN said in the letter.

Sports gambling is legal in only four U.S. states including Nevada. However, illegal sports betting operations around the world, including online outfits, sometimes offset bets they receive by placing casino wagers, law enforcement sources told Thomson Reuters.

Runners have been known to loiter at casinos, keeping numerous mobile phones and tablets near them to receive orders from illegal gambling rings.

The letter reminds casinos that the Bank Secrecy Act requires them to ask gamblers whether their bets are for themselves, and to report any wagers for third parties as suspicious activity.

2015 US Treasury warns casinos on illegal sports betting

LesU.S. Treasury Warns Casinos for Facilitating Money Laundering By Criminal Rings
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Expansion of Casinos Increases the Risk of Children Becoming Addicted Gamblers Later On in Life

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This study commissioned by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation shows a link between a parent’s gambling activity and their child’s attitude toward and participation in gambling.

“Youth who report that their parents have gambled in the past year have a significantly higher participation in various gambling activities than youth who report that their parents have not gambled in the past 12 months,” the paper stated.

An addictions psychiatrist Shao-Hua Lu says the expansion of casinos increases the risk of children becoming gamblers later on in life. According to Lu, the likelihood of a person developing a gambling problem as an adult is directly related to their parents’ gambling habits. “It’s no different from how increasing smoking exposure increases subsequent likelihood of smoking addiction.”

Decoding British Columbian Youth and Gambling

LesExpansion of Casinos Increases the Risk of Children Becoming Addicted Gamblers Later On in Life
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A good way to wreck a local economy…bring in casinos

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This story by David Frum, former advisor to President George W. Bush and current Senior Editor with Atlantic Monthly, spotlights how casinos hurt local economies: “The towns and cities that turned to gambling to escape their problems may discover that they have accepted a sucker’s bet: local economies that look worse than ever, local residents tempted into new forms of self-destructive behavior, and a dwindling flow of cash to show for it all.”

2014 A Good Way to Wreck a Local Economy- Build Casinos

LesA good way to wreck a local economy…bring in casinos
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Investigation shows property tax relief for PA homeowners is a “charade”

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An Associated Press analysis of state Pennsylvania Education Department data shows that, despite the meteoric rise of Pennsylvania’s gambling industry, the casinos haven’t delivered enough revenue to put a significant dent in most homeowners’ tax bills. If anything, homeowners are feeling even more of a pinch now, 10 years after gambling proponents predicted that casinos would in the words of one lawmaker -“remove the stifling
saddle of high property taxes from the backs of Pennsylvania homeowners.”

2014 Slots cash a mixed bag for PA property owners

LesInvestigation shows property tax relief for PA homeowners is a “charade”
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Casinos get strong warning for perpetrating financial crimes

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According to this story from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “Casinos have long reaped profits from what can politely be described as plausible deniability when it comes to identifying the source of their large cash customers’ income.” Jennifer Shasky Calvery, director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), wants to put a stop to that. In a speech at the annual gambling trade show, G2E, Shaky Calvery called for a cultural change inside the casino business to root out and stop financial crimes, such as money laundering. This comes as an ominous warning for casinos, who often benefit from some shady deals.

Reluctant casinos get clear warning on money laundering

LesCasinos get strong warning for perpetrating financial crimes
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Schools in Maryland aren’t seeing the funding promised from casinos

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In 2012, faced with a referendum on gambling on which voters would decide the fate of gambling in Maryland, Governor Martin O’Malley promised his constituents that casinos would bring in necessary revenue for education funding. He equated gambling with a win for education. Now, two years later, schools in Maryland are looking for the money they were promised because so far, it hasn’t come. Just as with other states, education funding from casinos has fallen far short of what was promised. This article from the Maryland Reporter explains how once again, schools are losing out on much-needed funding.

Despite campaign promises, casinos, not schools, are big winners from gambling profits

LesSchools in Maryland aren’t seeing the funding promised from casinos
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Investigation finds Champions League soccer match was fixed

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An investigation by Europol, the law-enforcement agency of the European Union, has found that a Champions League soccer match in the UK which ended in a tie was fixed. Europol did not release the identity of the match due to the ongoing investigation, however, they did say the match occurred within the last “three or four years”. Officials say this match-fixing is the work of an organized crime group based in Asia. This article from BBC Sport examines the investigation and its findings.

Match-fixing -Champions League tie played in England was fixed

LesInvestigation finds Champions League soccer match was fixed
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Link found between problem gambling and family violence

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A new study by the Problem Gambling Research and Treatment Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia shows a strong link between problem gambling and familial violence. Fifty-three percent of problem gamblers reported some form of family violence in the past 12 months and Forty-four percent reported victimization in the home. These disturbing numbers show yet another effect of problem gambling, and shows further why more commercialized gambling isn’t a good thing. This HealthCanal study summarizes the study’s findings.

Problem gambling and family violence strongly linked says new study

LesLink found between problem gambling and family violence
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Tribal leader who led fight for casinos said it was intended to be short-term solution

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This story from the Washington Post serves as an obituary for Richard Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who led the fight for tribal casinos. However, he never intended them to last. “It’s not our end goal,” Mr. Milanovich told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. “We know gaming won’t last. The laws will change at some point. But it’s a means to an end. It has brought us sorely needed revenue which has allowed us to diversify even more, so the future of the tribe is secure.” Thirty years after IGRA, most tribes are still promoting predatory gambling as aggressively as ever.

Key tribal leader who led effort for casinos conceeded their inevitable failure 

LesTribal leader who led fight for casinos said it was intended to be short-term solution
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All play and no work leads to millions for one Native American tribe

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Every day, millions of Americans get out of bed, get ready, and go to work, spending their whole day working to provide their family with necessary income. The American economy is built on hard work on the part of individuals. However, members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Native American tribe live a very different lifestyle. “We have 99.2 percent unemployment,” Stanley R. Crooks, the tribe’s president, said as he smiled during a rare interview. “It’s entirely voluntary.” Members of this tribe receive just over $1 million annually from the tribe’s casino profits, without ever having to work to provide a good or service. Their economy is built on the profits of gamblers, and little more. There is no economy in the entire world that functions like this- where no one has to produce anything of value to reap millions. That is because it is an unsustainable  economic plan, as can be seen in this article from The New York Times which documents the group’s fear of recent attempts to restrict casino gambling, which would leave the tribe with essentially no source of income.

2012 One Million Each Year for All as Long as Tribe Luck Holds

LesAll play and no work leads to millions for one Native American tribe
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