Sydney’s Star Casino Could Shut Down In The Next Fortnight After Damning Inquest
The report alleged that "vast sums of cash" were not subjected to proper money laundering checks.
The future of Sydney’s Star Casino has been thrown into doubt after a lengthy inquest denounced proprietors Star Entertainment as being “unsuitable” to hold a casino license in NSW.
A report by the chief commissioner of the Independent Casino Commission Philip Crawford, cited “institutional arrogance” from Star’s management board, who allegedly “tried to hide” operational wrongdoings including “vast sums of cash” not being subjected to money laundering checks.
“They incurred substantial risks around the following topics: money laundering, allowing criminals to gamble in their casinos, the infiltration by organised crime. And they paid scant regard to proper harm minimisation criteria,” said Crawford.
Singling out company culture as the “major concern” within the casino, Crawford described management’s eagerness to take extreme risks in pursuit of financial goals as “appalling”, with the venue apparently showing “unwillingness” to implement appropriate levels of transparency .
Following the findings, Star Casino has been served with a notice to show cause: a court document requiring the venue to outline their justifications for the alleged breaches.
Today, NSW Premier Dom Perrottet backed the findings of the review while threatening that a permanent closure of the venue could be on the cards.
“Star has been absolutely horrendous” said Perrottet. “They’ve got 14 days to respond to that report and if they don’t comply, they’re likely to close”.
While the Independent Casino Commission has stated it will use every option available in disciplining the casino, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie was wary of the government’s ability to actually effect change in the sector beyond issuing hefty fines.
“There’s just going to be some fines, a bit of clean-up and everyone will get on with things because governments, and this is the other layer of the problem, governments are too cosy with these companies,” said Wilkie.
Despite frequently underpaying its taxes, the state government receives millions of dollars in taxation revenue from Star every year. The casino was also famously exempt from Sydney’s lockout laws back in 2014.