After an investigation that spanned several months, Loto-Quebec has received a report on criminal activities at its Casino de Montreal venue.
In November 2020, Quebec finance minister, Eric Girard, announced that an independent auditor would investigate possible criminal activities at Casino de Montreal. The inquiry was announced shortly after various media outlets reported that organised crime syndicates receive preferential treatment at the venue.
Last week, the government released a report on the matter. The report aims to provide operators with guidelines on dealing with similar criminal activities at gambling venues in the future. Loto-Quebec will also use the information to find answers relating to criminal undertakings at some of its venues.
Inspection Finalised
The audit, which was officially concluded last week, prompted Quebec authorities to announce that they will apply some of its recommendations. Last week, Eric Girard stated that the currently implemented measures by Loto-Québec are concrete, and the mentioned felonious activities reflect on past events and are not ongoing.
The local government stated that it would adopt a policy to ban high-risk profile players. The new rules will allow Loto-Quebec to cancel players’ casino loyalty programme memberships and annul all accumulated points. Additionally, Loto-Quebec will have the authority to conduct thorough and detailed background checks of certain patrons and their finances.
The province has also agreed to enhance information-sharing between Loto-Quebec and the police. This includes exchanging information on money laundering structures, as well as typologies, modes of operation, techniques, and organised crime groups. Loto-Quebec has already introduced several recommendations from the audit, such as system automation to target suspicious activities.
In conclusion, the casino operator stated that it is continuously searching for the best possible protocols in the battle against money laundering since organised crime evolves over time and in tandem with new technologies. According to the statement, dealers did not feel obligated to permit a suspicious individual to win due to their links to organised crime groups.
