Electronic Gaming Machine Ticket Redemption

Criminals introduce illicit cash into gaming machines as an initial infiltration of funds, converting physical currency into TITO tickets that appear to be legitimate gambling proceeds. This tactic reduces detection risk by merging illegal cash with normal gaming activities.

Criminals exploit the TITO-based gaming product feature that converts large volumes of physical cash into vouchers with minimal recorded betting activity. By repeatedly inserting illicit funds into gaming machines and quickly cashing out TITO tickets, they mask the true origin of the proceeds under the guise of legitimate gambling winnings. This is the primary vulnerability because the product’s structure and limited scrutiny for individual TITO transactions enable swift conversion and redemption of illicit cash, making it appear legitimate.

Offers comprehensive deposit and transaction histories, ownership details, and account balance information. Cross-referencing TITO voucher redemption proceeds with an account holder’s established financial profile helps identify deposits that are inconsistent with stated gambling habits or declared income.

Provides verified customer identity details, beneficial ownership information, and relationship mappings. This data helps identify whether individuals exchanging or consolidating TITO vouchers are legitimately connected or part of collusive activity, enabling enhanced scrutiny of unusual or unexplained voucher transfers.

Contains detailed records of TITO (ticket-in, ticket-out) issuance and redemption, amounts inserted into electronic gaming machines, timestamps, betting activity, and payout details. This data enables tracking minimal-play or no-play scenarios, rapid cash-outs, and the overall flow of funds through gaming machines, helping detect patterns consistent with illicit layering or integration.

Require verified identification for TITO redemptions or high-value cash transactions above defined thresholds. Perform risk-based assessments on frequent or large TITO redeemers to verify the source of funds and confirm legitimate gambling activity. Enforce maximum redemption limits without verified identity to prevent structuring through multiple sub-threshold transactions.

Integrated surveillance connects machine-level transactions with an individual's profile. Use behavioral analytics on machine data to detect short-play patterns or rapid insert/cash-out cycles.

• Submit CTRs for TITO-related cash deposits or redemptions that exceed mandatory thresholds to create an official record of large or structured casino transactions.
• This documentation supports investigations into repeated sub-threshold structuring or unusually high-volume TITO usage.

Maintain comprehensive logs of all TITO transactions, recording amounts, machine IDs, timestamps, and linked player or ID details. Share these logs across relevant venues or partner entities (where legally permissible) to identify repeated or structured cash insertions and redemptions used to disguise illicit funds.

Blacklist or bar individuals identified for TITO-based laundering attempts from using electronic gaming machines or entering gambling venues. Apply cross-venue bans to prevent repeated exploitation of rapid cash insertion and ticket redemption, thereby disrupting known offenders' access to TITO transactions.

• Casinos may issue checks for larger TITO redemptions, offering a credible bank-drawn instrument.
• Criminals deposit these checks into their accounts, where they appear legitimate due to the casino’s reputable status.
• The check form factor further distances the funds from their original cash source, complicating financial institution scrutiny.

• Once TITO vouchers are redeemed for cash or checks, criminals deposit the proceeds into bank accounts as purported gambling winnings.
• Financial institutions typically regard verified casino payouts as legitimate, enabling launderers to integrate illicit funds with minimal suspicion.
• These deposits complete a layering step by transforming illicit cash into apparently legitimate account balances.

• After minimal or no actual betting, criminals convert inserted cash into TITO tickets, making it appear as legitimate winnings.
• These tickets are transferable among accomplices or consolidated to mask the true source of funds, scattering or regrouping the original amounts.
• Once redeemed, the proceeds appear to financial institutions as ordinary casino payouts, further obscuring their illicit origin.

• Criminals insert illicit banknotes directly into electronic gaming machines, immediately converting them into TITO credits or vouchers.
• The anonymity of physical bills obscures the money’s illicit origin, especially when deposits are split below thresholds or across multiple sessions.
• This tactic effectively places dirty cash into the financial system by giving it the appearance of legitimate gambling proceeds at the earliest stage.

• Criminals insert illicit cash into slot or electronic gaming machines with little to no actual betting, generating TITO vouchers that appear as gambling proceeds.
• These vouchers can be exchanged among accomplices or consolidated and redeemed later, obscuring the transaction trail.
• Once redeemed, the proceeds are often deposited into financial institutions as purported 'gambling winnings,' completing a layer of laundering.

Illicit operators insert substantial cash into TITO gaming terminals with little to no betting activity, splitting deposits across multiple sessions or machines. They exchange or consolidate vouchers to further distance the funds from their illicit origin, complicating transactional traceability for financial institutions.

Financial institutions receive TITO redemption proceeds as purported gambling winnings. These deposits hinder detection efforts because the original source of funds—large volumes of illicit cash—remains obscured by the casino-based conversion process.