PokerStars’ subsidiary GP Information Services is under investigation by the Australian government for possible violations of the Interactive Gambling Act (IGA), according to an article in the Australian Courier Mail.
The article published Saturday states that GP Information Services promotes PokerStars and that Australian banks are used to transfer funds overseas. Providing online poker to Australians and advertising real-money gambling games violates the IGA and can incur fines of AUD $1.1m a day for companies and $220k to the individual, but authorities have never levied charges under the act.
The Federal Government is being advised by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) “to start charging poker websites blatantly getting around Australian legislation, by outlawing their services.” The ACC sees online poker and the unregulated movement of funds as having the potential for “money laundering and revenue and taxation fraud.”
The efforts of the ACC to fight these crimes include cooperating with “international law enforcement agencies.” Though they refused to comment on the ongoing investigation, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) did acknowledge that they were contacted by US authorities who requested help in their efforts against PokerStars.
Tough to Enforce
There is movement within the Australian Government to regulate and legalize online poker. Reports show that enforcement is growing increasingly difficult and the effectiveness of those efforts is having “limited success reducing online poker.”
In June last year, the Australian Productivity Commission recommended that the IGA be repealed, in place of regulation that would allow operators to offer poker and casino games to residents under a strict consumer projection regime. However the move was rejected by the Australian government, that instead would seek talks with other nations to form “global regulations.”
Australian poker network Merge Gaming, with headquarters in Brisbane, does not accept Australian players as the IGA explicitly prohibits Australian-based companies to offer online gambling to Australian residents. However, until now, other sites and networks have offered real-money games in Australia unhindered, and players have had no trouble depositing and withdrawing online.
