{"id":951763,"date":"2026-05-11T03:17:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T03:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/951763\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T03:17:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T03:17:23","slug":"safe-sticker-company-at-the-centre-of-money-laundering-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/951763\/","title":{"rendered":"Safe sticker company at the centre of money laundering scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Billionaire \u201cAussie\u201d John Symond\u2019s lesser-known cousins Paul and Daniel have been for years the go-to consultants for registered clubs seeking to stick within the letter of the law.<\/p>\n

Their \u201cBetSafe\u201d responsible gambling stickers are ubiquitous in suburban pokie dens. The brand is so well regarded that its name is enshrined in law as one of the few pre-approved counselling services that clubs and pubs are required to advertise in their gambling areas.<\/p>\n

\"WhileWhile billionaire entrepreneur John Symond was building his business overseas in 2014, so were his lesser known cousins in Australia.Jessica Hromas<\/p>\n

But explosive court documents tendered in the financial crimes watchdog\u2019s prosecution of Mounties suggest that the Symonds were not the safe pairs of hands that their clients imagined. Mounties faces fines of up to $31 million for each breach of money-laundering laws that is found to have occurred while it relied on BetSafe to ensure it was compliant.<\/p>\n

For a business that began as a gambling counselling service, the stakes are suddenly, dizzyingly high.<\/p>\n

The late Paul Symond founded BetSafe in 1998, long before the notion of poker machines being used to launder money was contemplated, and later brought his son Daniel into the business. Paul had previously run the responsible gambling program at Star City, and several large clubs asked if he would be interested in rolling out a similar program in clubland.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Mounties<\/a><\/p>\n

Although he seldom spoke of it, Paul Symond was himself a recovered gambling addict. He favoured a light touch in dealing with people at risk of gambling harm, such as gentle check-ins on those displaying particular behaviours, and did not support $1 bets or requiring players to make pre-commitments on how much they wished to spend \u2013 principles that aligned with the clubs\u2019 views.<\/p>\n

The clubs paid BetSafe tens of thousands of dollars each year for stickers with the gambling hotline to be attached to their poker machines and to undergo quarterly compliance audits. The program gave gambling rooms an aura of respectability without denting their profits, and clubs flocked to join up.<\/p>\n

In 2002, the business took a boost when the NSW government directly named BetSafe as an approved provider under a new regulation that required all pubs and clubs to advertise counselling services in their gambling rooms.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rowan Cameron, a former responsible gambling manager at ClubsNSW and Crown, said BetSafe essentially provided a box-ticking exercise for clubs to meet their legal requirements. But the new law delivered it a financial windfall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a real privilege for a for-profit organisation,\u201d Cameron said.<\/p>\n

The halo effect conferred by an association with BetSafe became a billable item. Court documents show that among the services it agreed to provide Mounties under a 2011 retainer was \u201cenhancement of public image by the distinctive and recognisable BetSafe trademark\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"MountiesMounties relied on the money-laundering program provided by BetSafe when it allowed hundreds of millions of dollars to be washed through its pokies.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n

The model was so successful that in 2003 BetSafe took it global as a founding member of the Global Gambling Guidance Group, an international consortium that charged clients for \u201caccreditation\u201d as responsible gambling providers. Daniel Symond remains on the board of the organisation, which runs on its website testimonials from gambling companies spruiking their \u201cmonumental\u201d achievements in gaining accreditation.<\/p>\n

BetSafe\u2019s reputation was now solidified as the gold standard.<\/p>\n

\"BetSafeBetSafe director Daniel Symond appeared in a 2022 webinar advising clubs how to stay compliant.YouTube<\/p>\n

So when the federal government introduced new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML\/CTF) requirements for clubs and pubs, BetSafe added an anti-money laundering compliance program to its list of services. There was no legal requirement for those delivering such programs to have qualifications in AML\/CTF. Daniel Symond\u2019s background was in IT.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost clubs didn\u2019t understand their obligations and the pokie industry broadly found it all too confusing,\u201d Cameron said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetSafe\u2019s manual was a cut-and-paste from the ClubsNSW one. They knew diddly squat about it, but they were able to position themselves as being at the forefront of this space and, of course, no one really was.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than empowering the clubs to be educated about their obligations and stand on their own two feet, BetSafe managed to cultivate a childlike reliance on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimate responsibility for AML\/CTF compliance lies with venues, not their advisers.<\/p>\n

BetSafe\u2019s client base grew to more than 80 clubs, and business was booming. Court documents show that Mounties alone paid BetSafe more than $600,000 over a 4\u00bd-year period, with an average of $10,733 a month.<\/p>\n

In September 2019, it was time for Mounties to subject itself to a review of its money-laundering policies as required under federal law. This was no trivial matter: the reviews are essential to ensure any non-compliance is picked up and corrected, and must be genuinely independent.<\/p>\n

A neat solution quickly emerged when Symond told Mounties that he had someone in mind that they could hire to conduct the audit: Richard Brading.<\/p>\n

For many years, Brading had been on the side of angels in the gambling sector, including 20 years as a solicitor for Wesley Community Legal Service.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But Brading had been closely connected to Symond and BetSafe for many years. According to his LinkedIn page, he was legal counsel for BetSafe from 1999 to 2019. ASIC documents show that Legal Review and BetSafe also shared the same registered address and PO box through the small accounting firm Wheeler Grenfell.<\/p>\n

Legal Review charged just $500 for each of its five annual reviews, and each time gave Mounties a clear bill of health despite the rampant money laundering that was occurring, AUSTRAC has claimed in court documents. In another sign of the close relationship, BetSafe took $500 off its invoices to Mounties to account for the cost of each Legal Review audit.<\/p>\n

The connections raise questions over whether the annual reviews Legal Review conducted for Mounties between 2019 and 2023 were genuinely independent. While AUSTRAC has not yet made any findings, it is critical of how Brading went about his work.<\/p>\n

For one, AUSTRAC says, Brading did not appropriately or sufficiently test or tick off on the systems, process and procedures used by Mounties. He also did not record any of the methodology used in the reviews, and failed to record the results of any testing.<\/p>\n

Other than short interviews with Mounties\u2019 anti-money-laundering co-ordinator, Brading did not engage with the board or senior management about any of the reviews he conducted, court documents allege. Finally, Brading did not receive any anti-money-laundering compliance training or education during the five years he reviewed Mounties\u2019 compliance with the law.<\/p>\n

This masthead made multiple attempts to contact Brading.<\/p>\n

Symond insists everything was above board. \u201cBetSafe\u2019s position is that the independent reviews were commissioned by Mounties and were independent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetSafe\u2019s genuine position is that its work was assisting Mounties to comply with AUSTRAC\u2019s expectations as they were understood and communicated at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat position is based on repeated direct engagement with AUSTRAC over many years, including involvement in at least 19 AUSTRAC compliance assessments \u2026 as well as attendance at more than a dozen AUSTRAC industry education meetings in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing in those engagements to indicate that the core methodology previously reviewed by AUSTRAC had ceased to be sufficient in the manner now alleged, or that AUSTRAC\u2019s expectations had shifted to the position that has only since become apparent through the Mounties proceeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer ClubsNSW compliance officer Troy Stolz raised internal concerns as early as 2014. Rhett Wyman<\/p>\n

But the allegations have come as no surprise to former ClubsNSW compliance officer Troy Stolz, who raised internal concerns as early as 2014 that BetSafe and another company were supplying half the clubs in NSW with lightweight programs incapable of preventing money laundering. In 2019, he resigned and reported his concerns to AUSTRAC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe industry was compromised in terms of compliance because these programs were only good for wrapping fish and chips in, they were that far substandard,\u201d Stolz said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody picked that up because generally the people who were writing the programs were also doing the independent review. Well, they\u2019re not going to turn around and say the programs are not good. There\u2019s no independence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mounties allegations highlight the risk of infiltration by criminals seeking to use their poker machines to conceal the origins of their dirty cash.<\/p>\n

\"AUSTRACAUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas said criminals were still moving \u201cextraordinary volumes of cash\u201d across venues in a way that was highly indicative of laundering.Fairfax Media<\/p>\n

Mounties is alleged to have allowed 13 customers alone to launder about $226 million through its poker machines over four years, while it relied on BetSafe\u2019s AML\/CTF program.<\/p>\n

The club group has agreed in court documents that BetSafe\u2019s program did not explain how to identify, mitigate or manage money laundering and that Symond as the sole risk assessment officer underestimated the risk.<\/p>\n

AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas told attendees at a gambling conference in March that clubs and pubs had significantly improved their anti-money-laundering programs over the past few years. Yet known criminals were still moving \u201cextraordinary volumes of cash\u201d across venues in a way that was highly indicative of laundering, he said.<\/p>\n

A growing concern was the number of businesses outsourcing their AML\/CTF responsibilities to third parties without sufficient oversight or accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing cases where poor quality work by third-party providers goes unchallenged, risks are missed, and alerts are closed without adequate scrutiny,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWhen that happens, the failure sits squarely with the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mounties has terminated its relationship with BetSafe.<\/p>\n

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\"BevanBevan Shields<\/a> is a senior writer, and former editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[105,218,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-951763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116553780945784398","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}