New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) said Tuesday it has filed civil proceedings in the High Court against Christchurch Casinos Limited, operator of Christchurch Casino, for allegedly failing to meet its compliance obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (Act).
These obligations, it added, include to establish, implement and maintain a robust AML/CFT compliance programme, to conduct enhanced customer due diligence and terminate business relationships when required, to monitor accounts, and to keep records as required by the Act.
The failures are alleged to have occurred between December 2018 and December 2023.
Although DIA is not alleging Christchurch Casino was directly involved in money laundering or the financing of terrorism, it noted that under the AML/CFT Act, all New Zealand reporting entities, including casinos, are required to have adequate policies, procedures and controls to detect, manage and mitigate the risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
“New Zealand casinos can be exploited by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime and to finance terrorism if robust processes aren’t maintained,” said Serge Sablyak, Director AML/CFT Group for the DIA. “Casinos must implement strong measures to prevent this.
“Casinos and other reporting entities that don’t uphold these standards will be held to account by DIA and other supervisors of the AML/CFT system.
“Though we are unable to provide further comment while the matter is before the High Court, DIA will continue to take firm action against reporting entities that fail to comply with their AML/CFT obligations.”
Christchurch Casino is majority owned by Skyline Entertainment and is one of the few casinos in New Zealand not linked to SkyCity Entertainment Group.
