Even during the first year of COVID-19, $85 billion made its way into poker machines in NSW.
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Authorities don't know for sure how much of that was spent by criminal syndicates engaging in money laundering, but the NSW Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes said "it is reasonable to suspect some level of criminal activity".
The NSW Crime Commission will hold an inquiry into money laundering in pubs and clubs around the state, with public submissions open until January 28, but the commission will likely gather more evidence on top of that.
It is one of the few agencies that can gather evidence in hearings and compel people to provide evidence.
Mr Barnes said expert investigators, data analysts, lawyers and intelligence officers would be working on the project to uncover new information "that will assist to ensure pubs and clubs stay profitable while the community is protected".
"It is worth noting that the commission is making no assertions about the scale of money laundering in the industry but is simply trying to empower operators and regulators to stay one step ahead of criminal syndicates," ClubsNSW chief executive Josh Landis said.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said money laundering is "the most significant aspect of organised crime".
"Without the generation of wealth which is legalised through process, they can't be what they are, which is a problem to society," Mr Smith said.
NSW Digital and Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said the inquiry would give the government its first understanding of "the link between organised crime and how they use pokies to launder dirty cash".
At the end of June, there were more than 87,000 poker machines in clubs and hotels around NSW.
Mr Dominello told a budget estimates hearing in October that a 62 per cent increase in gambling tax revenue Treasury factored into the state budget's forward estimates up to 2024/25 are "broad figures".
He told the hearing that "cashless gaming, because it provides oversight, will go a long way to fixing the twin evils of problem gambling and money laundering".
The NSW government is currently trialling cashless gaming machines.
"There are venues that want to do the right thing and participate in a more sustainable future and I applaud them," Mr Dominello said on Friday.
He said the commission's inquiry will be powerful and targeted but was not worried about any decrease in gambling tax revenue hitting the budget.
"There's a hit to the budget because organised crime, drugs and human trafficking cost the budget in terms of untold lives and damage and costs to the health system and destruction of families," he said.
"We are spending so much money ... whether it's gambling addiction or organised crime these are things we need to tackle."
Australian Associated Press
