SINGAPORE: Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has been fined S$2.25 million (US$1.7 million) by the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) for failing to perform due diligence checks when receiving cash of S$5,000 or more from third parties to deposit into customers' accounts.
Casino operators are required to conduct such checks when they receive a cash deposit of S$5,000 or more into a patron’s deposit account, GRA said in a press release on Friday (Dec 8).
GRA directed casino operators RWS and Marina Bay Sands in 2020 to conduct a review of "certain patrons’ activities". RWS then discovered non-compliance for some transactions and reported them to GRA.
Further investigations conducted by GRA revealed that between December 2016 and December 2019, RWS had failed to perform prescribed customer due diligence checks for certain transactions where RWS’s employees collected cash of S$5,000 or more from third parties for the purposes of depositing into the accounts of RWS’ patrons.
“When accepting these cash deposits, RWS had failed to establish the identity of the third-party depositors,” GRA said.
“RWS did not record the requisite identifying information, nor did it verify these identities using reliable and independent sources as required under the Casino Control (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Regulations,” it added.
There were systemic failures in "certain controls", resulting in RWS’ failure to detect the non-compliances, the regulator said.
GRA has cancelled the special employee licence for one of the employees involved in the breaches.
A casino special employee licence is issued by GRA to people who work in casino-related functions or make decisions on casino operations.
It is conducting further investigations to assess the culpability of other employees involved.
When the non-compliances were detected, RWS “took prompt action to improve its processes and engaged an independent party to review their standard operating procedures”, GRA said.
RWS has also undertaken a review of its corporate culture, with a view to strengthening its internal controls and corporate governance.
“GRA takes a serious view of such lapses and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against errant casino operators. GRA will continue to exercise tight supervision over the operators’ compliance with our regulatory requirements.”
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Casino operators are required to conduct such checks when they receive a cash deposit of S$5,000 or more into a patron’s deposit account, GRA said in a press release on Friday (Dec 8).
GRA directed casino operators RWS and Marina Bay Sands in 2020 to conduct a review of "certain patrons’ activities". RWS then discovered non-compliance for some transactions and reported them to GRA.
Further investigations conducted by GRA revealed that between December 2016 and December 2019, RWS had failed to perform prescribed customer due diligence checks for certain transactions where RWS’s employees collected cash of S$5,000 or more from third parties for the purposes of depositing into the accounts of RWS’ patrons.
“When accepting these cash deposits, RWS had failed to establish the identity of the third-party depositors,” GRA said.
“RWS did not record the requisite identifying information, nor did it verify these identities using reliable and independent sources as required under the Casino Control (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Regulations,” it added.
There were systemic failures in "certain controls", resulting in RWS’ failure to detect the non-compliances, the regulator said.
GRA has cancelled the special employee licence for one of the employees involved in the breaches.
A casino special employee licence is issued by GRA to people who work in casino-related functions or make decisions on casino operations.
It is conducting further investigations to assess the culpability of other employees involved.
When the non-compliances were detected, RWS “took prompt action to improve its processes and engaged an independent party to review their standard operating procedures”, GRA said.
RWS has also undertaken a review of its corporate culture, with a view to strengthening its internal controls and corporate governance.
“GRA takes a serious view of such lapses and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against errant casino operators. GRA will continue to exercise tight supervision over the operators’ compliance with our regulatory requirements.”
Continue reading...