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ABC News
23-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Macquarie Group-backed ATM provider begins removing machines from suspected illegal tobacco stores
One of Australia's largest private ATM suppliers, Macquarie Group-backed Next Payments, is removing more than 40 of its machines from suspected illegal tobacco stores. Next Payments chief executive Tim Wildash announced the move after an ABC investigation found ATM companies were cutting deals with tobacco criminals and installing their machines in high turnover illegal cigarette shops. Mr Wildash said he had not been aware of the extent of the issue until the ABC's reporting, and he was insisting the company remove ATMs from the outlets. 'If they [the shops] are not legal, we're not going to provide services,'' Mr Wildash told the ABC. The ABC found in some cases Next Payments had deals with criminals or associated businesses to host its machines, even after the men had been caught by police for breaches of tobacco offences or for handling of proceeds of crime offences. The removal of the Next Payments machines came as financial payment processing company EFTEX took action to slash ties with private ATMs in illegal tobacco shops in response to the ABC's revelations. EFTEX,which provides transaction services for over 5000 ATMs, last week told clients it would stop payment processing for machines located in tobacco outlets and other high-risk environments because of the increased regulatory focus generated by the media reports. The illicit tobacco trade has ballooned amid increasing government taxes on tobacco – packs of 20 illegal cigarettes can sell for as little as $8 while Commonwealth duties alone should cost almost $28. The ABC found ATMs were fuelling the at-times violent trade because illegal tobacco outlets would often push customers to pay in cash for the contraband cigarettes, directing people to use in-store ATMs if they didn't have money to hand. The cash transactions made it difficult for authorities like the Australian Tax Office and law enforcement agencies to track the illegal trades and subsequent massive profits. The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission told the ABC: 'The scale of cash turnover through private ATMs in certain industries make these an ideal target for serious and organised crime groups who thrive off the money made from criminal activities.' In some cases, private ATM providers and the individual or business hosting the machines receive a commission on every withdrawal – and machines at tobacco stores linked to criminals were recording up to three times the normal transaction rates of standard bank ATMs. Some illicit tobacco shops were doing so many transactions they hosted two machines on site, the ABC found. The ATMs also provide opportunities for money laundering when merchants have deals to load their own cash into the machines, experts said. Private ATMs are not captured under anti-money laundering laws. Proceeds of crime cash could be loaded into the machines and when an innocent customer withdrew this money, that customer's bank would then ultimately credit the merchant's account with the same amount. The money's original source does not come under the same level of scrutiny that occurs if criminals try depositing certain amounts of cash in various ways at a bank counter. In one case uncovered by the ABC, a convicted cannabis kingpin operated his own fleet of ATMs sourced from Queensland-based business atm2go and sought to load drug money into the ATMs. Atm2go, which has multiple machines installed in illicit tobacco shops, has declined to comment. Melbourne-based Next Payments' biggest shareholder, with a 47 per cent stake, is Macquarie Group. Mr Wildash has maintained that tobacco was only 1 per cent of business for his organisation and that his company had been cooperating with authorities. He rejected concerns the machines pose money-laundering risks, claiming you would have to be the dumbest criminal in the world to think you could launder cash through a private ATM. Transactions on Next Payment machines are processed by Cuscal, which told the ABC it did 'not have any direct relationship' with Next Payment's clients. Cuscal said Next Payments had provided assurances it was removing ATMs 'from locations that may be linked to the illegal tobacco industry'. Industry sources have told the ABC that atm2go terminals used Eftex to process transactions.
ABC News
12-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
ATM suppliers atm2go and Next Payments in battle for tobacco crime figure's business, court filings reveal
When Iraqi-born businessman Hasheem Jamal Al Deleymi ramped up an illegal tobacco operation in Queensland, police weren't the only ones taking notice. Two major private automated teller machine companies, atm2go and Next Payments, also appeared to have clocked the contraband enterprise. The ATM suppliers went on to became entangled in a turf war to supply their machines to tobacco shops associated with Al Deleymi. Nine months after Macquarie Group-backed Next Payments supplied their machines, Al Deleymi was stopped in a silver Ford Ranger utility in NSW with $530,000 cash — leading to him facing a NSW Crime Commission investigation over alleged handling of proceeds of crime. The dealings have been uncovered by an ABC investigation into how private ATMs are fuelling the violent illegal tobacco trade and can be used by criminals to launder money. The machines, which rake in transaction fees, are being sited inside tobacco shops to enable cash-only transactions for illegal tobacco facilitating tax evasion. Shop operators can also do deals with suppliers to load the machines with their own cash — potentially laundering proceeds of crime. ATM suppliers and the shop owners can receive a commission on every transaction. The ABC has obtained court documents from a legal action sparked by the turf war between the ATM suppliers over Al Deleymi's business. The documents reveal the normally secret returns generated by ATMs in tobacco shops, including how in some cases such machines do triple the business of a normal ATM. Atm2go had entered into a deal to supply Al Deleymi with six machines in several south-east Queensland tobacco stores between February 2021 to March 2022, the documents allege. But by June 2022, the deal appeared to sour, with all six atm2go machines switched off and unbolted. Atm2go alleged Al Deleymi was then responsible for replacing their machines with eight ATMs from rival operation Next Payments. In response, atm2go launched legal action against Al Deleymi claiming a breach of a five-year agreement for their machines. Atm2go alleged it lost tens of thousands of dollars in business and faced costs for removing the machines — an amount totalling around $74,000. Al Deleymi is alleged to have ignored atm2go's demand to remove Next Payments machines and reinstall theirs. Do you know more about this story? Email or To prove how much revenue was lost, atm2go offered up details of how fee deals for private ATMs are structured. Atm2go stated it charged customers $2.50 for each cash withdrawal and that Al Deleymi would earn a cut of each transaction fee of up to $1.30. One machine at a Caboolture tobacco store recorded 165 transactions daily throughout May 2022, while a second racked up 155. Together, they reaped daily average fees of $408.79. This transaction rate dwarfs that of typical Australian ATMs, which record an average of only 38 cash withdrawals a day, according to Reserve Bank of Australia figures. This high transaction rate came despite the presence of other ATMs nearby. Al Deleymi did not file any defence in atm2go's lawsuit, and a default judgment was entered against him for almost $64,000. The documents allege atm2go and Next Payments cut deals with the stores linked to Al Deleymi after May 2021 in Queensland. At that time, he had been charged with offences in Queensland including conveying of tobacco products and dealing with property worth less than $100,000 suspected of being proceeds of crime. He was convicted in 2024 and received a two-year good behaviour bond. Following a 2022 raid on a Bundaberg tobacconist and vape store linked to him, Al Deleymi was also fined $4,000 for offences including unlawful supply of medicines and possession of a weapon. Efforts to contact him have been unsuccessful. Just four months after atm2go sued to recover money, Al Deleymi was stopped in in a silver Ford Ranger utility in New South Wales and was allegedly found with $530,000. The seizure triggered the NSW Crime Commission to freeze funds in bank accounts linked to other tobacco shops tied to Al Deleymi and he faced charges of dealing with the proceeds of crime. In June, Al Deleymi was found by a Sydney magistrate to have recklessly dealt with the proceeds of crime worth more than $100,000. He had pleaded not guilty. He is due to be sentenced later this year. Atm2go did not answer questions about the deals while Next Payments chief executive Tim Wildash declined to answer specific queries relating to Al Deleymi. Mr Wildash previously said his company cooperated with authorities and was assisting a "live investigation". He has rejected concerns about money laundering with his company machines but acknowledged issues involving the ATM industry and tobacco stores. "This issue is bigger than any of us could have imagined three weeks ago," Mr Wildash said. Al Deleymi, 29, was listed in 2023 court documents as living at a now derelict Morayfield property just north of Brisbane. The address is also listed as a contact point for 21-year-old Mostafa Al Deleymi who was supplied with Next Payments ATMs, despite facing charges relating to illegal tobacco possession. After he was caught with illegal tobacco in 2023 in Ingham, Mostafa Al Deleymi went on to establish a company called Replenishatm, which signed deals with Next Payments. When the ABC visited the 1.8 acre Morayfield property last month, the brick home was empty and derelict with a large skip bin left in the front yard. Piled up in the skip bin were empty cardboard boxes. Some were labelled with Chinese brands of cigarettes sold in tobacco shops.
