Combatting money laundering in Southeast Asian and Australian casinos

Money laundering in Southeast Asian and Australian casinos is examined in the context of the East Asian transnational crime system. Transnational crime is growing rapidly in the region, particularly in the weakly-governed Mekong region (Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos). Casinos facilitate the operation of this crime system. A key difficulty in combatting money laundering in casinos in the region is that governments are conflicted between their desire to reduce crime and money laundering with their economic strategy of maximising employment, international tourism and taxation associated with casinos. National and state governments need to prioritise the control of money laundering and transnational crime over their economic development goals. Failure to follow this step is likely to lead to a growing spiral of crime in the Asia-Pacific region.