Report indicates terror, crime funds trickling in casinos
NEW DELHI: Indicating
signs of possible funds related to crime and terror trickling into the
Indian casino sector, a government report has said that more than 7,000
instances of suspicious transactions have been detected in the elite
gaming business during the last financial year.
A total of 7,006 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) during the 2010-11 fiscal have been reported by the casino business and allied payment operators to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), an enforcement agency under the Union finance ministry.
The casino business in the country was brought under anti-money laundering laws in 2009 and the operators primarily provide slot machines and electronic games to customers.
According to a 2010 report of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the top global financial body set up by G-7 nations in 1989 to combat financial crimes, India has just more than 20 casinos.
While Goa, the state with numerous sun-kissed beaches, has the majority of these gaming facilities, 14 land-based casinos (located in five-star hotels) and six offshore (ship-based), there are a few in Sikkim too.
"The casino sector, although small in India, is vulnerable to instances of criminal money and terror funding in its channels. The STRs in the last fiscal indicate the unusual complexity of money involved in the sector," a Finance Ministry official said.
However, nor the FIU report or the official could quantify the number of those STRs which indicate terror financing and their ultimate results as the FIU dispatches such reports to agencies like CBI, Income Tax department and Intelligence Bureau for further action.
The sources said the committee is likely to finalise its recommendations within a month, and then the Bill will be sent to the Rajya Sabha for its nod.
They said that the committee has already met with the representatives of industries bodies like the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( Ficci) and PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others, to discuss various provisions under it.
"Stakeholders are understood to have favoured legal net for corporates to ensure transparency and check corruption. The proposed amendments will be in conformity with the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the Anti Bribery Convention of Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)," a source said.
The head of country's anti-corruption watchdog CVC, Pradeep Kumar has also favoured a legislation to bring corporates under the purview of another anti-graft law, Lokpal.
Currently, no government body including the CVC has powers to check corruption in private firms. Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) recently rejected a proposal for donning the role of an anti-corruption watchdog for private companies -- similar to the role of the CVC for government entities.
A total of 7,006 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) during the 2010-11 fiscal have been reported by the casino business and allied payment operators to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), an enforcement agency under the Union finance ministry.
The casino business in the country was brought under anti-money laundering laws in 2009 and the operators primarily provide slot machines and electronic games to customers.
According to a 2010 report of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the top global financial body set up by G-7 nations in 1989 to combat financial crimes, India has just more than 20 casinos.
While Goa, the state with numerous sun-kissed beaches, has the majority of these gaming facilities, 14 land-based casinos (located in five-star hotels) and six offshore (ship-based), there are a few in Sikkim too.
"The casino sector, although small in India, is vulnerable to instances of criminal money and terror funding in its channels. The STRs in the last fiscal indicate the unusual complexity of money involved in the sector," a Finance Ministry official said.
However, nor the FIU report or the official could quantify the number of those STRs which indicate terror financing and their ultimate results as the FIU dispatches such reports to agencies like CBI, Income Tax department and Intelligence Bureau for further action.
The sources said the committee is likely to finalise its recommendations within a month, and then the Bill will be sent to the Rajya Sabha for its nod.
They said that the committee has already met with the representatives of industries bodies like the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( Ficci) and PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others, to discuss various provisions under it.
"Stakeholders are understood to have favoured legal net for corporates to ensure transparency and check corruption. The proposed amendments will be in conformity with the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the Anti Bribery Convention of Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)," a source said.
The head of country's anti-corruption watchdog CVC, Pradeep Kumar has also favoured a legislation to bring corporates under the purview of another anti-graft law, Lokpal.
Currently, no government body including the CVC has powers to check corruption in private firms. Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) recently rejected a proposal for donning the role of an anti-corruption watchdog for private companies -- similar to the role of the CVC for government entities.
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