The government-owned lottery and casino operator, Atlantic Lottery Corporation Inc., is being sanctioned by federal anti-money laundering authorities, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), for a handful of alleged compliance violations.
FINTRAC imposed a $212,025 administrative penalty on Atlantic Lottery — the organization that’s jointly owned by the provincial governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island — after a compliance review uncovered three breaches of anti-money laundering requirements.
The agency classified one of those violations as “very serious” and the other two as “serious.”
According to a notice detailing the sanctions, the very serious violation stemmed from an instance where the organization failed to submit a suspicious transaction report when “there were reasonable grounds to suspect that transactions were related to a money laundering or terrorist activity financing offence.”
Specifically, FINTRAC said that its compliance exam identified transactions conducted by a client that should have raised numerous red flags — including unusual, rapid transfers, the client avoiding contact with the firm’s employees and unexplained sources of funds involved in transactions.
The other breaches involved alleged weaknesses in the company’s compliance policies and procedures, including its client identity verification practices and reporting processes. The agency found that the organization’s overall assessment of its money laundering risks were missing “key elements” and didn’t necessarily consider all of the required factors.
The penalty has been paid and the case is considered closed, FINTRAC noted.