Reported by: Loop Cayman News

During a Select Committee hearing last week, Derek Byrne, the Commissioner of Police of the Cayman Islands, made a startling revelation that “illicit proceeds of illegal gambling in the Cayman Islands are somewhere between thirty million and fifty million Cayman dollars per annum” and that “illegal gambling is an organized criminal activity by criminal enterprise” with international links.

Describing the structure of the criminal enterprise, he said that “we have people that are organizing these events,” “we have sellers,” and “people that collect.”

He then explained “how this money then moves throughout the community,” which he sees “in little corner shops, happening in barber shops” and “associated with illegal immigration.”

According to the Commissioner, the money also crosses international borders and involves “money mules” who “take money from the country, going through our airports.”

To make matters worse, the Commissioner said that the money is further disguised through money laundering, where these bad actors use illegal gambling proceeds to purchase property, vehicles, and small business investments, activities that initially seem legitimate but are procured by criminal proceeds.

Read full report: https://cayman.loopnews.com/content/byrne-significant-amount-money-laundering-linked-gambling