US Treasury to Casinos: Fight Illegal Sportsbetting

In an open letter written by the US Treasury Department to US land casinos, a request was made for the casinos to combat illegal sportsbetting.  The letter , which was penned by the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCen), read: “Increases in sports betting conducted on behalf of third parties are facilitating criminal activity and posing a money laundering risk to the U.S. financial system.”

The letter cites research conducted by the Center for Sports Security, which claims that 80% of sports betting in the world is conducted illegally. It also claims that $140 billion is laundered each year through gambling on sports. FINCen pointed out that third party “runners” were being used by criminal groups to place wagers on American sportsbetting platforms, enabling them to launder large sums of money.

The letter continued: “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.”

Geoff Freeman of the American Gaming Association reacted to the call by the US Treasury Department for US casinos to counter illegal sportsbetting. He pointed out that money laundering is “far greater in the vast, unregulated, illegal sports betting market than in the highly regulated, legal gaming industry.”

He also points that that casinos regularly look out for suspicious bets at sportsbooks, and will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to identify illegal betting activity. However, he said that “no such oversight exists for the illegal sports betting market.”

The letter was sent several weeks ahead of  Super Bowl weekend – what is traditionally considered the biggest betting weekend in the United States.