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 on depositors when they receive cash of S$5,000 or more, GRA said in a press release on Friday (Dec 8).
The fine is the biggest penalty that GRA has imposed on a casino operator so far.
In 2020, GRA directed casino operators RWS and Marina Bay Sands 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 failed to perform customer due diligence checks for certain transactions where employees collected cash of S$5,000 or more from third parties to deposit into the accounts of RWS’ customers.
“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 breaches, 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 the other employees involved.
In response to CNA’s queries, the regulator said it is unable to provide “a conclusive number of RWS employees involved” as investigations are ongoing.
“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,” said the regulator.
It added that RWS took prompt action to improve its processes and engaged an independent party to review their standard operating procedures.
Genting Singapore, which owns RWS, said in a filing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) that there was no evidence of criminal offences or money laundering, and no police report was made.
In response to CNA’s queries, Genting Singapore said: “When we discovered the lapses in the performance of due diligence measures in 2020, we promptly reported it to the GRA and fully cooperated in its investigations.
“Furthermore, we have since taken action to ensure compliance by implementing technology enhancements, improving our processes, and intensifying employee training.”
It added that it will continue to monitor all compliance standards and work with the GRA to strengthen the effectiveness of its processes, controls and training.
“The financial penalty imposed by the GRA will not have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets and earnings per share of the group for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023,” said the company in the SGX filing.
CNA
