Sydney’s Star Casino ‘unfit to operate’ after scathing press
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Star Entertainment Group has announced the possible stripping of its Sydney casino license after years of breaking the law, defrauding banks and being infiltrated by criminal elements in scathing reports. face severe penalties, including
After months of royal commission-style investigations by the New South Wales gaming regulator, a report released on Tuesday found the casino group unfit to hold a license.
The New South Wales Independent Casino Commission said it had issued a cause notice for the show, forcing casino groups to explain why they should not be subject to disciplinary action within 14 days.
Revoking the casino license and issuing fines is one of the options.
“Doing nothing is not an option,” said Supreme Commissioner Philip Crawford, who said the majority of its 8,000 employees were “doing the right thing.”
“It’s not a matter of ‘put a tail on the donkey.’ There was more than one mastermind behind the casino’s behavior and attitude,” he said.
Crawford said some senior executives had resigned, but Starr remained unhappy with the regulator’s efforts and said he was reluctant to provide sufficient transparency.
“The organizational arrogance of this company is breathtaking and their willingness to take risks in pursuing their financial goals is appalling,” he said.
The author of the report, Adam Bell SC, found that the casino group experienced “very serious governance, risk management and cultural failures”.
In an “intrinsically deceptive and unethical process,” management circumvented China’s capital flight law and disguised $908 million in gaming withdrawals between 2013 and 2020 as hotel expenses. By doing so, he deceived NAB and foreign banks.
The board learned of this practice in 2021 and realized they and the bank may have been misunderstood by management.
But Bell said it was left to the investigation to uncover Starr’s “deeply troubling culture that pervades senior management.”
The investigation also explored Star’s belated decision to sever ties with junket operator Suncity in late 2021.
The decision came after Star’s regulatory manager misled gaming authorities about Suncity’s private game rooms in 2017, and staff identified “serious problems” within the rooms. 2018.
Management also acknowledged in a 2019 Hong Kong Jockey Club report that the junket operator was linked to three criminal gangs, “massive” money laundering and drug trafficking. .
“A question asked too often [by management] It wasn’t ‘should I do this’, it was ‘how can I do this’,” Bell said.
Casino law violations include failing to tell regulators when $3.7 billion in chips were destroyed in 2020.
However, no adverse findings were issued for the board because they had “little or no” thought about what happened “when no one was looking.”
In addition to reviewing Starr’s licenses, Mr. Bell also forced all gamblers to use electronic cards and advised them to stop pokey every three hours.
In-house counsel must undergo annual independent training on the definition of legal privilege and employees must be taught how to identify conflicts of interest.
The investigation led to the resignation of Managing Director Matt Baker, Chairman of the Board John O’Neill, Chief Financial Officer Harry Theodore, Chief Casino Officer Greg Hawkins and Chief Legal and Risk Officer Paula Martin. .
Star stock halted trading on Monday in anticipation of the report’s release.
The company’s shares closed at $2.66 on Friday. That’s nearly 40% cheaper than he was this time last year when Bell Review called.
-AAP
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/nsw/sydney/2022/09/13/sydney-star-casino-unfit/ Sydney’s Star Casino ‘unfit to operate’ after scathing press