Part IV: Financial Fraud · Chip, Cash & Ticket Fraud

Buying Third-Party Chips (Secondary Market)

How it works

A launderer approaches other players on the casino floor and offers to buy their chips at a premium (e.g., 95 cents on the dollar) for cash. This accomplishes two objectives: it converts the launderer’s dirty cash into clean chips that can be redeemed at the cage as legitimate winnings, and it provides the chip seller with immediate cash without visiting the cage (where they might be identified or reported). This circumvents all casino tracking and AML controls because the transaction occurs entirely on the gaming floor between private parties.

Where it appears

Gaming floor, high-limit areas, poker rooms

On the record

Third-party chip purchasing is explicitly identified by FinCEN and international AML bodies as a significant money laundering typology. It is particularly prevalent in markets with high-limit play and active junket operations.

Published as a detection reference for surveillance, compliance and gaming-operations professionals. Thresholds and tuning are set by the property. Nothing here is instruction — the method is described so it can be recognised.