Cash, weapons and drugs were all seized when police raided a gambling den in Birmingham, highlighting the UK Governments concerns surrounding money laundering through illegal casinos.
Four men were also arrested as officers from Operation Fearless, a task force targeting crimes ranging from violence to organised crime, executed a warrant at a premises in Ladywell Walk, Birmingham.
Images released by West Midlands showed that cards, poker chips and a poker table were all found at the address.
Alongside the poker equipment, large amounts of cash, Class A and Class B drugs and weapons were seized by the police.
Two men, aged 56 and 32, were arrested following the raid on suspicion of money laundering. Two more men, aged 43 and 20, were also arrested for immigration offences. All three remain in custody for questioning.
UK Gov raises money laundering alert
News of the arrest brings into focus the UK Government’s heightened concern surrounding money laundering within the casino industry.
The Treasury and Home Office, in the UK’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2025, raised the money laundering risk for casinos from ‘low’ to ‘medium’, citing illegal casinos as a major vulnerability for potential money laundering activity.
Due to operating outside of UK Gambling Commission guidelines, illegal casinos are not required to implement money laundering controls and are also heavily targeting customers via advertising.
The report stated: “Criminals could use illegal casinos to launder money, or they could be run by criminals and be used to launder their criminal funds. In addition, illegal gambling is a predicate offence and any funds associated with it could be criminal funds.”
Alongside illegal casinos, the report highlighted “changes in customer, geographical and transaction risks” – in particular, an increase in funds moving through remote casinos driven by the COVID-19 pandemic – for increasing the money laundering risk level.
Online slots popularity continues to rise
According to the report, published on 17 July, income from remote casino slot games has risen by 52% since it was last published in 2020, from £2.3bn to £3.6bn, with more players reportedly gambling for longer periods.
“The increased scale and volume of slot gaming, when combined with risks of non-face-to-face business relationships and the noncompliance with customer due diligence requirements by some casinos, increases the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing,” added the report.
The most common occurrence of money laundering through licensed casinos was recreational spending of criminal property. However, instances of criminals attempting to ‘clean’ funds through casinos were also observed throughout the assessment period.
