RSS Feed

Tech Support

A year-and-a-half investigation by Centrelink authorities found that more than 160 welfare irregularities were involved in money laundering fraud. Officials said it was likely linked to organized criminal gangs as well as illegal gangs.
In this type of money laundering scam, dirty money - money earned as a means of fraud - is used to arrange money by buying casino gambling chips. Centrelink launched an investigation after unusually high numbers of chip purchases began to be spotted at casinos across Australia. Officials can track dirty money or chips when they cash in after identifying suspicious activity.

Deals worth $10,000 or more, whether at checkout or at the game table, record big transactions and therefore require identification to be able to track them. Centrelink found 30 scammers who exchanged over $1 million each, with an average chip purchase of $155,000.

It is far more burdensome than the rest of the cases, including elderly pensioners who cashed in $1.5 million and single mothers who cashed in $1.3 million. Some jobless benefits recipients were found to have purchased luxury penthouse apartments and enjoyed the complexities often coming from casinos, such as free accommodation and travel.

All cases have been handed over to the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Commonwealth, where criminal charges are ongoing.