Online casinos are illegally targeting Māori through influencer content - and Hāpai Te Hauora is backing the DIA’s crackdown as a crucial first step in protecting our communities.

Recent reports have revealed a surge in Māori influencers being used to promote online casinos - a tactic that directly exploits Māori communities already disproportionately impacted by gambling harm.

"These gambling companies are knowingly using Māori influencers to reach Māori audiences. It’s not just harmful - it’s calculated, it’s manipulative, and it shows they have no regard for the wellbeing of our whānau," says Jason Alexander, Hāpai Te Hauora Chief Operating Officer.

Māori make up just 17% of the population, but account for over 30% of gambling harm. These companies know that - and they’re not just ignoring it, they’re exploiting it.

"What’s really worrying is that these same companies - the ones illegally targeting our people now - could be operating legally here as early as next year," Alexander says. "Their current behaviour shows exactly how little they care about whānau. If this is how they act before regulation, what will they do once they’re in the system?"

"This isn’t just about breaking the law - it’s about protecting our whānau. Gambling harm is already ripping through our communities. We can’t let social media become another weapon in that fight."

Hāpai Te Hauora is calling for:

• A complete ban on gambling advertising in Aotearoa - including influencer marketing
• Education for influencers on the harm these promotions can cause, and accountability for those who continue to participate
• Investment in Māori-led, whānau-first solutions to reduce gambling harm 

A dramatic surge in gambling advertising across media channels is sparking widespread concern by gambling harm support services and members of the public about the potential impact, particularly on young people.

Andree Froude Director of Advocacy and Public Health at the Problem Gambling Foundation says a petition has been launched after growing unease about the lack of regulation for gambling advertising and the sheer volume of ads people are being exposed to.

“We have received many complaints and heard from concerned members of the public about  the TAB aggressively advertising over recent months, promoting sports betting and offering sign-up inducements to encourage gambling,” she says.

“The TAB has also launched its new betcha betting platform specifically targeted at young people aged 18 to 29 years with ads all over TikTok, offering a 200% deposit match offer with up to $50 in bonus cash.”

“We are hearing from parents about their children discussing sports betting at school which is concerning - we don’t want to see a whole new demographic experiencing harm from gambling.”

The Government has also announced its intention to operate a licensing system for up to 15 online casinos, with licensed operators permitted to advertise with “strict limits”.

Andree Froude says this will contribute to a significant increase in gambling advertising.

“The cumulative impact of the advertising activity of 15 new online casino operators in a new market with the existing marketing from the TAB and Lotto will have a saturation effect, despite any restrictions that might be imposed,”  she says.

“The research is clear, gambling ads are harmful particularly for kids and young adults and we don’t want a situation like Australia where three out of four kids now think gambling is a normal part of sport.”

Purapura Whetu Trust Chief Executive Karaitiana Tickell agrees saying gambling products knowingly cause harm to whānau and our tamariki.

“We impress upon the Government and our community, the urgent need to regulate gambling advertising," he says.

Gambling harm support services are urging people to sign the petition during Gambling Harm Awareness Week and have their say about the harm caused by gambling advertising.

Asian Family Services, Mapu Maia Pacific Service, and Purapura Whetu Trust, will be collecting signatures during Gambling Harm Awareness Week from 2 – 8 September 2024.

The Problem Gambling Foundation says the Government’s high-level approach to regulating online casinos must prohibit licensed operators from advertising.

Andree Froude Director of Advocacy and Public Health at the Problem Gambling Foundation says despite the advertising of overseas gambling currently being prohibited under section 16 of the Gambling Act 2003, there have been many overseas operators circumnavigating New Zealand laws and promoting overseas sites, particularly on social media.

“These operators have been deliberately targeting  the New Zealand market as online gambling is largely unregulated here, “ she says.

“They often use predatory tactics such as inducements to encourage New Zealanders to gamble on their sites and many people are not aware they are not protected by New Zealand gambling laws.”

The Problem Gambling Foundation says gambling advertising contributes to the normalisation of gambling particularly for young people and those who experience gambling harm disproportionately.

A recent international review of evidence concluded that gambling advertising restrictions could reduce overall harm and mitigate the impact of advertising on gambling-related inequalities.

Andree Froude says gambling advertising should be treated like the advertising of other harmful products such as tobacco and alcohol.

“Prohibiting the advertising of any gambling is the best measure but at the very least, there needs to be strict limits around the volume and timing of advertisements along with the banning of inducements to gamble,” she says.

The Problem Gambling Foundation agrees with the regulation of online casino gambling but reiterates that robust harm minimisation and consumer protection measures need to be at the forefront.

Andree Froude says now is the perfect opportunity to introduce best practice harm minimisation and consumer protection measures based on what we know from other jurisdictions.

“We are one of the last countries to regulate online gambling so we can look at international evidence to inform the regulation of online casinos here,” she says.

The Problem Gambling Foundation is calling for strict host responsibility measures to be imposed on online casino operators as part of licence conditions, including a robust customer verification process, a national self-exclusion register, restrictions on payment methods and mandatory time and spend limits. Tough penalties should be imposed for non-compliance of license conditions.

There are variety of ways in which fraudulent persons might try to scam you out of your hard-earned money. These scammers may contact you through the internet by emails or through messaging you on social media platforms. Other scammers may even meet you in person, text or call you. Regardless of the method through which these fraudulent entities contact you, you need to be a step ahead of them and know the various forms by which they could approach you.

In our research, we found out the people who are more prone to scams are Casino players. However, there are websites, that constantly test and review different operators in order to present wide selection of safe and secure gambling sites. If interested, how it works in this list, you can find tests and reviews of some of the best online casino in New Zealand where you can play with absolute peace of mind.

Variety of common scams you need to be careful about

Phishing scams: With the improvement in technology, there are a variety of disadvantages, phishing is one of them. In this instance, the scammer sends you a text or an email in order to trick you into giving out your sensitive information such as passwords, bank account numbers as well as credit card numbers. The scammers pretend to be from a real business, most times they claim to be representatives from your bank, or some provider you’d subscribed to such as your internet service providers and their intention is to trick you into confirming your personal details. These calls, emails or messages usually look quite real and are even styled in the exact format used by the organisation they pretend to represent. Some of them contain links which lead you to unsecure sites asking you to fill in your personal details.

Phone scams: This scam entails a fraudster calling your number and pretending to be a representative from a reputable company or even a sector in the government, though the aim of the call is to acquire your personal information.

Online dating scams: Thanks to social media, a good number of people find love on the internet; however, unscrupulous entities have invaded this particular area and cause untold pain to their victims. In this situation, a person may chat you up and engage you in friendly discussions, with the aim of getting you romantically and emotionally attached. With time, such person begins to make financial requests from you, or asking you personal details about yourself. Many persons fall for this as their emotions get the better of them.

Identity theft: Here, the scammers try to get hold of some of your personal information and pin numbers or passwords. After getting hold of such information, they attempt to impersonate their victims in order to acquire their personal details.

Investments scams: Here, scammers inform you that you can acquire very high returns in an investment scheme, they also promise you very minimal risks in such investment schemes.

Lottery/competition or Inheritance scams: In this situation, the scammer contacts you informing you that you’ve got a huge inheritance to be claimed or that you’re the lucky winner in a particular promo or lottery. Such scammers then include the clause, that however, before you are able to claim these inheritances or lottery rewards, you must pay some fees to process them successfully.

Door to door scams: Here, a scammer physically meets up with you pretending to offer a service, it could be at your house. Such scammer then offers to carry out a service for you and bargains with you for an upfront fee which you may feel is a no-brainer. However, after such a person is done carrying out such service, such scammer does such a job badly or tricks you into thinking something has been improved, when actually nothing was done.

Computer virus scams: This is also quite common, these scammers inform you that due to some of your interactions on the web, your computer has caught a virus which can be fixed by them. However, such scammers try to remotely access your computer and acquire your personal or financial details.

How to Prevent Scam Attacks

More scams get introduced daily and try to appear as genuine as they can in order to trick unsuspecting persons. Some are not even from New Zealand but from foreigners. However, there is so much useful information online available to help you and you can prevent all unfortunate scamming incidents by taking some of the following steps:

1. Using difficult passwords (mixture of lowercase and uppercase letters as well as numbers),
2. Avoid revealing your personal details or PIN to anyone via call, emails or texts. Always ensure you go to your bank or the organisation of concern to resolve any issues.
3. Avoid replying suspicious texts or mails.
4. End any calls which ask for your personal or financial details before they entice you.
5. Never click links shared in suspicious emails, delete them without responding.
6. Using up to date security software on your gadgets

Service providers and academics have now considered the Select Committee report to parliament and the changes proposed to Te Ururoa Flavell’s Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill.

The undersigned have concluded that the Bill as it is now proposed does nothing for problem gamblers, those at risk, or communities wishing to manage the impact of gambling.

The Bill does give advantages to the gambling industry and gambling operators.  It fails to address the fundamental flaws in the current system which have resulted in a long history of rorts, money flowing out of poor communities and excessive cost claims.

Instead of reimbursing venues for the costs of having machines, what we now have is potentially a transferable property right.  This is not what was envisaged in the Gambling Act which aimed to provide a return to communities from gambling, not to gambling operations and the racing industry.

“For those of us who deal with the problems created by pokie machines every day this Bill on balance will make matters worse,” says Major Campbell Roberts.

“Maori and Pacific peoples are those who bear the brunt of the harm from pokie machines.  The harm impacts not just on the gambler but on their whanau, employers and the wider community.  We all wind up paying the price for the domestic violence, child neglect and crime that all too often results,” says Peter Adams.

For these reasons the signatories to this press release call on Te Ururoa Flavell to withdraw the Bill.

“This is the only responsible approach if we are seeking to achieve the original objectives of the Bill as outlined in its title.”

A Green Party bill to force casinos to pay back some of the proceeds of crime they receive through gambling was drawn from the ballot today.

Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei's Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 (Application to Casinos) Amendment Bill would impose a special obligation on casinos to return profits derived from significant criminal activity and which they should have been able to detect.

"I urge all political parties to back my Bill to stop casinos profiting from crime," Mrs Turei said.

"When problem gamblers are driven to crime everyone suffers except the casino, which pockets the profits.

"When problem gamblers are jailed they lose their job and are separated from family and friends. Those they stole from are also worse off. The only winner is the casino.

"There's established international evidence that casinos benefit from crime and this is the industry John Key wants to do a deal with.

"My Bill specifically includes casinos in the Criminal Proceeds of Crime (Recovery) Amendment Act and introduces a new legal test that makes them responsible for forfeiting proceeds, if they allowed the gambling to occur by not using the best methods to detect problem gambling and crime.

"My Bill will ensure the proceeds of significant criminal activity are returned to people they've been stolen from.

"Casinos have access to advanced technologies for detecting criminal activity and fraud. They have host responsibility programmes that should ensure alarm bells go off when risky gambling occurs.

"Prosecutions involving huge amounts of money stolen then gambled by high rollers at SkyCity casinos, often tracked by casino VIP programmes, raise questions about whether the casino could have done more to detect and deter the crimes.

"Other laws and regulations are in place to ensure casinos step up their efforts to detect crime.

"My Bill is about ensuring they return criminal proceeds that they should never have benefited from," Mrs Turei said.

Further information:

Massey University research shows that about 10,000 New Zealanders are engaged in illegal activities because of their gambling addictions. Pokies are the worst culprits.

Problem gambling costs $1 billion annually in bankruptcies, arrests, incarcerations, unemployment, divorce, poor physical and mental health, loss of educational opportunity and suicide.

After a request from the Green Party, the Auditor-General is investigating a deal between the Government and SkyCity, that would change the Gambling Act to allow the casino hundreds more pokie machines, and other concessions, in exchange for the casino building a convention centre in Auckland.

Examples of criminal money spent at casinos

- Trusted accountant Richard Arthur Watson stole $5.4 million from his employer to feed his gambling addiction at SkyCity, spending $50 million over ten years as a VIP high roller. He went to jail last year, his family was devastated and his employer suffered massive losses, which will never really be recovered.

- Christian Clifton, a methamphetamine cook who was jailed for life in September 2011, was a VIP member of the high-roller club at SkyCity casino. He gambled $1.3 million in the three years before his arrest.

From the $1.3 million gambled, he had a return of $1.1 million , a loss of around $200,000. That was in effect the price to clean up illegally gained money.

- Herminia Lanuza, an accountant, was jailed in 2010 after stealing $2.7 million to spend as a VIP at SkyCity.

Related internet links
Metiria's bill

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne today announced the release of a Ministry of Health consultation document on services it proposes to purchase to prevent and minimise gambling harm over the next few years.

The Ministry proposes spending over $55 million in three-year period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2016, on:

• intervention services to help people experiencing problems as a result of their own or someone else’s gambling;
• public health services to prevent and minimise gambling harm; and
• gambling research and evaluation.

The main gambling operators (non-casino gaming machine societies, the casinos, the New Zealand Lotteries Commission and the New Zealand Racing Board) reimburse the Government for the cost of the Ministry’s services.

“This consultation process is required every three years under the Gambling Act 2003 and it is important that we get feedback on how we might spend the funding to best effect,” Mr Dunne said.

“The Health Ministry will consider its proposals in the light of submissions and final decisions will be made by April or May next year,” he said.

Written submissions close on Friday 7 September. The Ministry will also hold meetings in main centres in the week starting 20 August, to discuss its proposals and the process for making submissions.

The consultation document can be found at http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/preventing-and-minimising-gambling-harm-consultation-document

The meetings will be listed on the Ministry’s website.

Figures released by the Department of Internal Affairs show that in the year ended 30 June 2012 the number of gaming machines in the country’s 1400 pubs and clubs decreased by 366 or 2 per cent from 18,309 to 17,943, venues declined by 1.5 per cent from 1421 to 1400 and there were 361 licence holders compared with 364 a year earlier.

Gaming machine expenditure in the same period rose $1.7 million to $857.7 million. Expenditure of $212.2 million in the second quarter of 2012 was 3.5 per cent less or $7.7 million than in the same period of 2011 but 4 per cent up on the $203.7 million for the first three months of this year.

The spending is captured through the electronic monitoring of non-casino gaming machines (EMS), which became fully operational in March 2007, enabling the Department to track and monitor operations, ensure the integrity of games and the accurate accounting of money.

     Non-casino GM spending by Society Type – April - June 2012
Society Type           Total GMP Quarter        % of Total
Non-Club              184,122,548.03        86.8%
Sports Clubs            3,741,520.56        1.8%
Chartered Clubs    16,969,661.17        8.0%
RSAs                          7,328,869.05        3.5%
Total Club                28,040,050.78        13.2%
Total All                  212,162,598.81        100.0%

Non-casino GM spending in quarter ended
30 June 2012             $212.2 m
31 March 2012            $203.7 m
31 December 2011         $220.4 m
30 September 2011        $221.4 m
30 June 2011             $219.9 m
31 March 2011            $205.1 m
31 December 2010         $215.8 m
30 September 2010        $215.2 m
30 June 2010             $209.8 m
31 March 2010            $199.9 m
31 December 2009         $218.8 m
30 September 2009        $220.7 m
30 June 2009             $217.3 m
31 March 2009            $208.7 m
31 December 2008         $230.7  m
30 September 2008        $232.3 m
30 June 2008             $231 m
31 March 2008            $218.5 m
31 December 2007         $245.3 m
30 September 2007        $243.5 m
30 June 2007             $237.7 m

Licensed gambling operations in pubs and clubs

Date        Licence holders     Venues  Gaming machines
30 June 2012    361               1400    17,943
31 March 2012   359               1403    18,001
31 Dec 2011     360               1410    18,133
30 Sept 2011    360               1409    18,167
30 June 2011    364               1421    18,309
31 March 2011   365               1430    18,484
31 Dec 2010     367               1443    18,681
30 Sept 2010    369               1438    18,601
30 June 2010    370               1455    18,944
31 March 2010   374               1470    19,115
31 Dec 2009     378               1491    19,359
30 Sept 2009    377               1486    19,296
30 June 2009    384               1501    19,479
31 March 2009   394               1527    19,739
31 Dec 2008     399               1537    19,879
30 Sept 2008    405               1551    20,025
30 June 2008    415               1552    19,856
31 March 2008   421               1569    20,018
31 Dec 2007     428               1585    20,182
30 Sept 2007    435               1593    20,163
30 June 2007    439               1598    20,120

Further information, including numbers of venues, machines and expenditure by territorial authority and changes in the quarter, is available from the Department’s Gaming Statistics web page at: www.dia.govt.nz. The figures are based on territorial authority boundaries that existed prior to the new Auckland super city.

Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain today announced the reappointment of two members of the Gambling Commission – Graeme Reeves as Chief Gambling Commissioner and Paul Stanley as Gambling Commissioner. Both Commissioners’ terms are for three years.

“The reappointments will retain valuable governance experience and skills. Mr Reeves, of Wellington, will continue to provide his legal expertise and strategic analysis experience, while Mr Stanley, of Tauranga, will provide Māori and health sector perspectives,” says Mr Tremain.

The Gambling Commission is an independent statutory decision-making body. The Commission hears casino licensing applications, and appeals on licensing and enforcement decisions made by the Secretary of Internal Affairs in relation to gaming machines and other non-casino gambling activities.

The other Commissioners are Russell Bell of Whanganui, Abigail Foote of Christchurch and Lisa Hansen of Wellington.

SKYCITY Queenstown Casino is playing host to poker players from around the world for the fourth season of the Pokerstars.net NZPT Queenstown – SKYCITY Snowfest from 24 – 29 July.

With the field capped at 200 players, including some of the top poker players from throughout Australasia and the world, competition will be fierce. Players will have to pull out all the stops to take away a slice of the maximum $540,000NZD* prize pool and to be named the Pokerstars.net NZPT Queenstown – SKYCITY Snowfest Champion for 2012.

Names to watch this year include Team PokerStars.net PRO Bryan Huang from Singapore and Team PokerStars.net Online Rohit Bhasins better known at the virtual felt as GodlikeRoy from Australia.  Australian Poker Hall of Fame members Leo Boxell and Billy ‘the Croc’ Argyros, reigning Player of the Year for this tour, Danny Chevalier, who was notably the first NZPT Queenstown Champion in 2009, a World Series bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen, reigning Asian Player of the Year champion Hung-Sheng (Shaq) Lin from Taiwan, and Queenstown business man and last year’s runner up Matty Yates.

Pokerstars.net NZPT Commissioner Danny McDonagh is thrilled with the quality of players and is looking forward to the upcoming tournament.

“This is the fourth year of the NZPT Queenstown tournament and it is always a pleasure to come to this beautiful part of the world. We are expecting to set records this year for attendance but this event is about more than just a great poker tournament. Queenstown is a fantastic place for poker players young and old. Families have a great time with so much outdoor activity while the younger players enjoy the amazing night-life Queenstown has to offer,” Mr McDonagh said.

As well as exciting poker action on the felts, the tournament is great for Queenstown tourism with players, friends and family members expected to take part in a number of actitivies across the week.

New activities this year include Poker in the Snow, a mock poker tournament up Coronet Peak hosted by NZSki on Wednesday 25 July featuring Team PokerStars.net players Bryan Huang and Rohit Bhasis, and the inaugural Pokerstars.net Frisbee Golf Tournament at the Queenstown Gardens on 26 July.

SKYCITY Queenstown Casino’s General Manager, Michelle Baillie suggests that the benefits to the region are greater than some may think.

“We are delighted to be working with the team from Pokerstars.net again this year. The event is good for the local economy and is a great way to show-case Queenstown to millions of poker fans all over the world through video blogs and coverage from international poker news websites,” Ms Baillie said.

Entries to the Pokerstars.net NZPT Queenstown – SKYCITY Snowfest are still available but interested parties are encouraged to get in quick. To register for the $3,000 buy-in main event or to see details on the tournament schedule including qualifying tournaments on Monday 23 July, see www.skycityqueenstown.co.nz for more details. You must be 20 years or older to enter SKYCITY Queenstown Casino. Game Responsibly.

*Subject to full participation

Gaming machines operated by Grassroots Trust in 21 pubs* will shut down for 16 days after the society failed to comply with gambling laws. This penalty is the most severe suspension that a class 4 gambling society has faced.

Internal Affairs’ Gambling Compliance Director, Debbie Despard, said Grassroots was sanctioned for breaches in the financial year ending March 2010 – failing to distribute a minimum of 37.12 pc of gaming machine proceeds to authorised purposes, a shortfall of $561,482 and overpaying venue expenses by $79,359.

The Department initially decided to cancel Grassroots’ licence in December 2011 after an audit revealed compliance breaches. Grassroots was entitled to continue operating while it appealed the decision to the Gambling Commission and sought a judicial review in the High Court.

The Department's dealings with the trust led to a negotiated outcome which will result in higher compliance expectations and more money to the community. In bringing about a resolution the trust has agreed to licence conditions that require it to distribute a minimum of 40 per cent of gaming machine profit to the community and to limit the expenses it pays to its venues in a year to 14.5 per cent of GMP, rather than the statutory cap of 16 per cent.

As part of the negotiated outcome Grassroots is withdrawing the High Court action and its appeal to the Gambling Commission and the Department is withdrawing the licence cancellation.

Debbie Despard, said the community will ultimately benefit because Grassroots will provide more funds for grant distribution. The trust also committed itself to be a best-practice operator and to improving its funding practices to better target community need.

While some pubs may see themselves as being punished for a society’s misdemeanour, Debbie Despard urged venue operators to exercise caution in entering into an agreement with a society to operate gaming machines in their pubs. Venue operators should be aware that they cannot receive any benefit from class 4 operators, other than reimbursement that is actual, reasonable and necessary. They should enquire about a society's compliance when choosing their class 4 operator, including where that society directs its grants and whether grant funding stays in the local community.

“We are satisfied that Grassroots has taken an appropriate response to the compliance issues. High expectations for the future have been set, and the trust has already shown signs of improving its performance. The successful end to negotiations shows the Department is prepared to be flexible in order to maximise benefits for the community.

“Gaming trusts exist to maximise gaming machine proceeds to the community and ultimately the community will benefit from the commitments that Grassroots has made.”

The Green Party has drafted a Bill that would require casinos to pay back the some of the proceeds of crime they receive through gambling.

The Bill would amend the Criminal proceeds of crime (recovery) amendment Act to impose a special obligation on casinos to return profits derived from significant criminal activity and which they should have been able to detect.

"When problem gamblers are convicted of stealing from their employers, or laundering drug money through the casino, everyone suffers except the casino, who pockets the profits," Green Party gambling spokesperson Denise Roche said today.

"The addict is jailed, and loses their job, their family and friends. Their employer can be ruined. But the casino is better off as a result of the crime. That's not fair.

"The draft amendment Bill specifically includes casinos in the Act and introduces a new legal test that makes them responsible for forfeiting proceeds, if they allowed the gambling to occur by not using the best methods to detect problem gambling and crime.

"This is not about picking on the casino for every $10 stolen to pump into a pokie machine.

"It's about ensuring that the proceeds of significant criminal activity, are returned to people they've been stolen from.

"Casinos have access to advanced technologies for detecting criminal activity and fraud. They have host responsibility programmes that should ensure alarm bells go off when risky gambling occurs.

"But recent prosecutions involving huge amounts of money stolen and then gambled by high rollers at SkyCity casinos, often tracked by casino VIP programmes, raise questions about whether the casino could have done more to detect and deter the crimes.

"Other laws and regulations are in place to ensure casinos step up their efforts to detect crime.

"This amendment Bill is about ensuring they return criminal proceeds that they should never have benefited from," Ms Roche said.

Notes:

Massey University research shows that about 10,000 New Zealanders are engaged in illegal activities because of their gambling addictions. Pokies are the worst culprits.

Problem gambling costs $1 billion annually in bankruptcies, arrests, incarcerations, unemployment, divorce, poor physical and mental health, loss of educational opportunity and suicide.

After a request from the Green Party, the Auditor-General is investigating a deal between the Government and SkyCity, that would change the Gambling Act to allow the casino hundreds more pokier machines, and other concessions, in exchange for the casino building a convention centre in Auckland.

Examples of criminal money spent at casinos

- Trusted accountant Richard Arthur Watson stole $5.4 million from his employer to feed his gambling addiction at SkyCity, spending $50 million over ten years as a VIP high roller. He went to jail last year, his family was devastated and his employer suffered massive losses, which will never really be recovered.

- Christian Clifton, a methamphetamine cook who was jailed for life in September 2011, was a VIP member of the high-roller club at SkyCity casino. He gambled $1.3 million in the three years before his arrest.

From the $1.3 million gambled, he had a return of $1.1 million , a loss of around $200,000. That was in effect the price to clean up illegally gained money.

- Herminia Lanuza, an accountant, was jailed in 2010 after stealing $2.7 million to spend as a VIP at SkyCity.