AUSTRAC targets clubs’ pokies in $70b money laundering crackdown

The financial crime watchdog will target the estimated $70 billion fed into poker machines in NSW clubs each year, in its latest salvo designed to crack down on the laundering of dirty money in the gambling industry.

Three in four of the almost 90,000 pokies in NSW are in clubs, many of which are “massive” and rival Sydney’s Star casino, new AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas said.