Is Gambling Generally An Illicit Activity?

[Fivestar4everMVP]

 
 Hi guys, coming through with a rather odd question this morning.

So, i was looking up on Wikipedia the meaning of Money Laundering , and below is a quote of how the site defined the term "Money Laundering"

Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions with varying definitions. It is usually a key operation of organized crime.

So, after i saw that Gambling was mentioned or listed among the listed illicit activities through which money can or could be laundered, I can't help but wonder if gambling is actually an illicit activity.

Wikipedia did not mention gambling being an illicit activity in their definition of gambling here, why then did they mention gambling as one of illicit activity through which money laundering can be carried out?

Please check this out and share your thoughts.

[Oshosondy]

Gambling is banned in some countries and concealing money won through it can be considered as money laundering. But in countries where gambling is not banned, it can not be considered as illegal activity.

It is believed that some laundered money are sent to gambling site inorder to conceal it from its origin, but this is not what this thread is about.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Anything can be used to launder money, gambling is no more utilised for it than anything else. Drug operations often run large amounts of cash through bogus businesses like flower shops and cake stores, taxi ranks etc.

Gambling is probably more of a risk than anything else to be used as a laundering vehicle. Imagine betting a large amount on something supposedly very likely to happen to clean money with winnings and then it loses.

[coin-investor]

Wikipedia did not mention gambling being an illicit activity in their definition of gambling here, why then did they mention gambling as one of illicit activity through which money laundering can be carried out?

Please check this out and share your thoughts.

That's Wikipedia's definition but not in countries where they define it as illegal activity, when it comes to gambling it is the government that will define it not an online version of Encyclopedia.

Dont just believe Wikipedia because not all that are presented here are proven facts, you can actually edit or request to edit entries here

First, you can fix it yourself! Anyone can edit Wikipedia. Just hit the "edit" button on the top right of the page, make the correction, and hit "Publish changes". If you want to learn more about editing, try our help pages.

Editng entries on Wikipedia

Listen to your government's advice when it comes to gambling because they are the ones drawing the line between what's legal and illegal based on their laws and constitution and not Wikipedia, Wikipedia is not a good source on topics about laws and regulations.

[pinggoki]

Gambling is banned in some countries and concealing money won through it can be considered as money laundering. But in countries where gambling is not banned, it can not be considered as illegal activity.

It is believed that some laundered money are sent to gambling site inorder to conceal it from its origin, but this is not what this thread is about.

That's why money launderers love gambling sites that don't do KYC, they can just easily clean their money in there albeit it's going to take them little by little since they want to be as lowkey as much as possible. I think gambling is mostly illegal in Muslim countries but I've heard that there's lottery in some of those countries so I'm weirded out that other form of gambling is illegal but lottery becomes an exception.

[piebeyb]

Maybe if it is called a prohibited activity, there may be some truth to it because in some countries gambling is still considered illegal because it is prohibited and there are also those that legalize it. Talking about gambling as a money laundering activity, I think it is possible that what Wikipedia means is a means by which people can launder money there. but as you know and other people also know, it is not easy to launder money in casinos, your account and money can be frozen if you are caught.

I don't consider this as something that can be said to be a prohibited activity, instead I consider gambling only as a means and activity for fun games, a kind of entertainment and nothing more than that, but everyone may have their own views so I'm just saying from my point of view. .  

[TravelMug]

Because some of the gambling money as well might come to any form of illicit activity and they can hide behind the gambling to launder that dirty money so it's hard to track. We've seen this so most of crypto based casinos today, KYC and at least their is a betting requirements before you can withdraw your money.

And if you go to landbased casino, I will always think of those whales or heavy bettors that I witnessed and think where did these guys are getting their money? I mean they will bet big without blinking an eyelash. And me thinks that he could be some drug lords because he doesn't care about the money win or lose and most likely he like to mix his money and later withdraw it. So now it became clean and not tainted anymore.

[_act_]

Anything can be used to launder money, gambling is no more utilised for it than anything else. Drug operations often run large amounts of cash through bogus businesses like flower shops and cake stores, taxi ranks etc.

Gambling is probably more of a risk than anything else to be used as a laundering vehicle. Imagine betting a large amount on something supposedly very likely to happen to clean money with winnings and then it loses.

That is just it. Nearly all money involved in laundering are either in banks or in physical form hidden somewhere. If you do not know the launderers, you will not be able to trace the money to money laundering. There are many legit businesses that are owned by well known people but are used to also launder money. If these people are not found guilty, they will never known that they have any money laundered.

[stomachgrowls]

 Hi guys, coming through with a rather odd question this morning.

So, i was looking up on Wikipedia the meaning of Money Laundering , and below is a quote of how the site defined the term "Money Laundering"

Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions with varying definitions. It is usually a key operation of organized crime.

So, after i saw that Gambling was mentioned or listed among the listed illicit activities through which money can or could be laundered, I can't help but wonder if gambling is actually an illicit activity.

Wikipedia did not mention gambling being an illicit activity in their definition of gambling here, why then did they mention gambling as one of illicit activity through which money laundering can be carried out?

Please check this out and share your thoughts.

Totally just that common sense in regarding with your question on which it is really just that pretty obvious that gambling would really be a considerable medium on where those tainted money or fiat would pass through.
We do know on how big this industry is and how big the money is really that involved with gambling on which it would really be just that normal that gambling could really be able to bare that kind of reputation on which it would really just that normal and this is why government would really be getting in between and set out those regulations just to get rid of  those fiat would really be tranferred or cleaned up with these mediums and this is why it would really be just that normal that they would really be setting those kind of terms on which it would really be just that normal.

There's nothing new and its always been that gambling do really get that bad image and its not something that surprising or shocking anymore.
This is why there are community that will really be getting that bad impressions or looks towards gambling which its that normal that it would really be always
that bad.

[Ojima-ojo]

Gambling is far from being a money laundering scheme which is why there is a need for licensing,  so those regions who doesn't want gambling will not license them a. d anyone ending in gambling in such countries could be liable to sanctions and imprisoned if the law stipulates that, but then we have countries where gambling is either regulated or unregulated in such region you must choose to gamblin' only on licensed casinos, this way you can stay safe from committing any regional crime.


Most time casinos are used as ad mixers for money launderers and as such this forced the casinos to implement the wager systems that way they can protect their players from getting cut up on innthe bad web also they have a system in place that checks how legitimate is the money.

[Odohu]

Gambling is banned in some countries and concealing money won through it can be considered as money laundering. But in countries where gambling is not banned, it can not be considered as illegal activity.

I think this is the best response to this question. What I suppsed they are explaining is the fact that people can use gambling sites to move money through the back-door.  Some companies allow withdrawal from means differrent from that of deposit and this is where the opportunity to deposit money, play one or two games either win or loss, then withdraw through another means and the money will be untraceable.

I know some companies have come up with rules to mitigate this such as ensurering that certain percentage of the deposited funds must be used in playing gamble before the balance withdrawn. In that case, users can not just deposit snd withdraw.

It is believed that some laundered money are sent to gambling site inorder to conceal it from its origin, but this is not what this thread is about.

This is actually the reason gambling made it to that list. Most countries that banned gambling uses money laundering as excuse.

[HelliumZ]

Gambling is basically a reprehensible and prohibited act. Although gambling is officially institutionalized in various countries of the world, gambling is considered a harmful addiction in most countries and the government does not approve gambling as a prohibited profession. However, gambling is still considered haram or anti-Islamic activity in Islamic countries. In my country gambling is openly considered illegal and those who participate in gambling are prosecuted and penalized.

[Text]

As for my research, the term illicit generally refers to something that is not legally permitted. Gambling, in many jurisdictions, is not an illicit activity as long as it is regulated by the government or other authorized bodies. However, unregulated or unauthorized gambling can be considered illicit. Here in our country, for example, gambling isn’t entirely illegal. There are forms of gambling that are authorized by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). However, any form of gambling not authorized by PAGCOR is considered illegal. Laws such as Republic Act (R.A) 9287 denounce illegal number games and serve as the country’s law against illicit online gambling.

https://justicesnows.com/illegal-gambling-in-philippines/

[Yogee]

I'll never use wikipedia as your main online source when researching on something since it's editable as pointed by coin-investor. The person who inserted gambling in there is probably from a country where gambling is haram or never allowed.

[....] But in countries where gambling is not banned, it can not be considered as illegal activity.

It's not really as plain as that. I mean gambling or betting outside of regulated casinos and sportsbooks are still considered as an illegal activity.

[Wexnident]

~

I don't believe it is. Though I guess the general idea of society about gambling is rather negative, I believe society has changed radically enough to identify it as not. At least, without involving some cultural aspects and whatnot, but rather from a general point of view. I'd argue that the reason it was included was that gambling can be seen as illegal in some countries after all, so they just chose a general idea that would fit those who would be affected if it was portrayed positively/negatively and in this case, I guess portraying it negatively won out.

Or, the wiki guy just hates gambling.

[FatFork]

<cut>
So, after i saw that Gambling was mentioned or listed among the listed illicit activities through which money can or could be laundered, I can't help but wonder if gambling is actually an illicit activity.

The wiki article you cited only gave a couple examples, possibly the most common, of illegal activities from which "dirty" money comes that needs to be laundered. Obviously, they can't list everything illegal out there. As for gambling being an illegal activity, it depends on local laws and regulations. In many jurisdictions, there are legal gambling activities, such as state lotteries, licensed casinos, and online betting platforms. These get watched closely by regulators.  But other areas completely ban all gambling or unregulated betting making it against the law. So it varies place to place whether gambling gets you dirty money or not.

[danherbias07]

That is why gambling sites want their players to wager first before they can get out. It's because of this kind of activity that some people would like to wash their money through them and just get out with the same money as they deposited. I think that's the term for it "washed money". They need to clean it up especially if those bills are marked or should've been listed somewhere else.
There's a movie about this "Den of Thieves" where the money they will try to steal are those that will be shredded and so it is clean money. It's not about gambling but it's a good explanation of why people are trying to wash their money and the evil ones trying to get the cash that is already in circulation in exchange for their unclean ones.
Gambling is illegal if not registered in one country because there's no way they can regulate it and if cash is flowing there without the government tracking it then they might arrest innocent people who will be holding those illegal money without knowledge about it.

[bluebit25]

So, after i saw that Gambling was mentioned or listed among the listed illicit activities through which money can or could be laundered, I can't help but wonder if gambling is actually an illicit activity.

Gambling is not an illegal activity, but people are the cause of that illegality.

But as a tool in life, it is built to support people, but how to use it for what purpose is a matter of the user.

Perhaps because the legal issue of gambling has not been specifically recognized, people only know about part of the content and consider it as everything. Some places consider this illegal, let alone using it. So anyway, depending on the perception in the current context, we should also have an open view of gambling, play happily without too much calculation.

[Crypt0Gore]

Why did OP mention Wikipedia? It's man made bro, so don't always take them this serious. Gambling to me has some part that's into illicit activities, even right from the olden days, centuries back, illegal gambling also became one of the masterpiece activities of methodical crime, today any business can be used as a back door for illegal activities, it's not gambling only.

This is why the government is very serious with casinos regulations, because they knew that right from day one many illegal activities are been carried out by those running casinos, and that's why they mandatory KYC requirements too.

It's why some countries will never accept gambling activities among it's people, they believe it's a very harmful habit, they failed to approve gambling when they know that they can make some money from the it and use the fund on the country, but it seems they care more for their citizens, like Cyprus and Cambodia.

[davis196]

1.Why were you searching for the definition of "money laundering"? Do you plan to launder some money?
2.Gambling is legal in some countries and illegal in other countries. The same thing applies to prostitution, selling alcohol and weed and various other goods and services.
3.The guy, who wrote the definition of "money laundering" in Wikipedia didn't do any mistake. Gambling can be used in money laundering schemes.
I remember stories about carders(the people, who obtain credit/debit card info and steal money from bank accounts), who were using casinos and sports betting platforms to launder the money they stole from their victims. The KYC policies, which were imposed over the gambling businesses had helped in fighting this form of money laundering.