FinCEN hits card club with $8 million CMP

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has announced an $8 million civil money penalty against Artichoke Joe’s, a California corporation, doing business as Artichoke Joe’s Casino (AJC), in San Bruno, California. AJC, one of the largest card clubs in the state, was found to have willfully violated U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws from October 2009 to November 2017. During this 8-year period, AJC failed to implement and maintain an effective AML program, and failed to detect, deter, and timely report many suspicious transactions, reported FinCEN. The $8,000,000 penalty is due by December 15, 2017.

According to FinCEN's announcement, AJC "turned a blind eye to loan sharking, suspicious transfers of high-value gaming chips, and flagrant criminal activity that occurred in plain sight." For more information, see "Artichoke Joe's Casino to pay $8M BSA/AML CMP" in BankersOnline's Penalties pages

UPDATE, 5/4/2018: On May 3, 2018, FinCEN rescinded and replaced this order. See our May 4, 2018, Top Story for details.