Star Entertainment and Star Sydney “not fit” to hold license

The inquiry into the alleged misdemeanor and regulatory breaches of Star Entertainment held another hearing on Tuesday. During the nth day of hearings, the Sydney Casino was found unfit to hold a license. The same conclusion was applied to the casino’s "close associate," Star Entertainment. The inquiry found out that the gambling company is only now in the process of coming up with a way to fix corporate shortcomings, the investigators continued.

Because of that, the New South Wales gaming regulator isn’t sure that the property may continue to operate. Nothing is yet decided, however. Investigators have not spared Star Entertainment criticism. The casino was associated with various alleged offenses, ranging from ties to organized crime to fraud to foreign interference, and not least – allegations of money laundering.

All of this has been examined in detail by the regulator and the inquiry it ordered. Over the past month, investigators have been carefully assessing whether they can realistically recommend regulators to allow Star Casino to retain its operational license.

The main issue investigators cite is that the Chinese debit cards were used to transact some $900 million, which is a significant amount. The matter is compounded by the fact that Star Casino is accused of lying to banks by hiding the purpose of the transactions and not communicating on time with various regulators, which could have averted the problem. In fact, Star Entertainment may have even tried to not have these hearings held in public. As a result of all of this, the investigators concluded:

"We submit that the evidence in the public hearing establishes that the Star is not suitable to hold the casino license and that its close associate Star Entertainment is not suitable either."

One of the lead investigators, Naomi Sharp SC, said that there has not been a period of "deep reflection" which would be necessary for the company to emerge from this crisis stronger and aligned with government and regulatory expectations. Sharp reminded Star Entertainment that the operation of its Star Casino was a privilege and the casino was able to amass sizable revenue as a result of that privilege.

She added that there were still some shortcomings in the VIP team and high roller segment and that Star’s board may have been indeed kept in the dark about certain decisions. More worryingly, Sharp continued, Star’s risk management internal regulations came with serious shortcomings.

She said that such failings are the responsibility of internal casino teams, the management, and the board. Several executives have already left the company, including Chief Executive Officer Matt Bekier, Chief Casino Officer Greg Hawkins, and Board Chairman John O’Neill.

Image credit: Star.com.au