Why We Should Probably Start Worrying About Online Casinos

Online casinos are not just a tool to be used by organized crime to launder money. Often, they are the organized crime.

I first posted this earlier today on my World of Crime newsletter before thinking it could be quite relevant for the Sports and Crime Briefing audience. It doesn’t directly talk about sports, but as online casinos are so connected to sports betting, legal and illegal, I felt it was worth sharing here too.

One of this year’s best reports about organized comes courtesy of the wonderful team at TRM Labs. Called “Shadow Bankers”, it is well worth your time.

It describes in depth how Chinese underground banking networks have become the financial engine of transnational crime. These informal fei qian or “flying money” channels quietly move billions in illicit funds for everyone from North Korean hackers to Mexican cartels

The report reveals how shadow bankers leverage online casinos, cryptocurrency, trade scams, and informal banking to clean and shuttle dirty money across borders. In short, Chinese underground banks, or shadow banks, have weaponized every possible avenue to create a constant money laundering pipeline.

Below, World of Crime explains the essential parts of this pipeline.