Casinos in Canada’s largest province aren’t doing enough to crack down on suspected money laundering and online gambling liberalization plans present a potential conflict of interest for Ontario’s gambling regulator. 

On Monday, the Auditor General of Ontario released its 2020 Annual Report, which found that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), the body that oversees the province’s alcohol, gaming, horse-racing and retail cannabis operations, “lacks operational transparency on its financial and regulatory activities.”

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk notes that the number of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) at Ontario casinos rose 19% to 3,722 between 2017 and 2019, but the value of these dodgy transactions doubled over the same period to C$340m (US$265.7m). 

Worse, despite the presence of provincial police in casinos to oversee gaming integrity and investigate suspected money laundering, the AGCO seized cash on only four occasions during the 2017-19 period and barred only 38 individuals from setting foot on an Ontario casino gaming floor.