While land-based casinos are known to be used in the placement stage of money laundering, in which currency is introduced into the financial system, Internet gambling is particularly well-suited for the laying and integration stages of money laundering, in which launderers attempt to disguise the nature or ownership of the proceeds by concealing or blending transactions within the mass of apparently legitimate transactions. Due in large measure to the volume and speed of transactions, as well as the virtual anonymity offered by the Internet, offshore gambling websites are an area of considerable money laundering concern. The Internet gambling operations are, in essence, the functional equivalent of wholly unregulated offshore banks with the bettor accounts serving as bank accounts for account holders who are, in the virtual world, virtually anonymous. For these reasons, Internet gambling operations are vulnerable to be used, not only for money laundering, but also for criminal activities ranging from terrorist financing to tax evasion.
