Organized crime money laundering through online gambling businesses in Great Britain

This chapter analyzes the money laundering risks associated with online gambling, including those posed by organized crime. It focuses on the British gambling market, where online gambling constitutes over half of the total market. In an industry involving such substantial financial flows, it is important to analyze the ways in which opportunities for concealing, converting, and controlling the finances for, and from, serious and organized crimes can emerge. This chapter specifically focuses on how digital platforms can be used to conceal, convert, and otherwise control the proceeds of serious and organized crimes and considers the anti-money laundering (AML) compliance requirements imposed by the Gambling Commission (GC) to reduce flows of criminal monies in this sector. The AML discussion in this chapter also includes the gambling industry responses to money laundering and its overall AML self-regulation attempts. Despite the focus on the GC and its regulated entities in Great Britain, it is anticipated that this chapter will be of relevance in non-British gambling markets.