The Star fined AUD100m over money-laundering activities

Australian gaming giant Star Entertainment Group has been fined AUD100 million amidst pressure to reform their operations following reports of money-laundering activities. 

The group’s license to operate its Sydney casino, The Star, has also been suspended, as it has failed to deter money-laundering inside the casino.

In several inquiries this year in the state of New South Wales (NSW) investigating whether the Australian casino is still fit to hold a gaming license, evidence was heard that private gaming rooms at The Star’s casino only shut down following the arrest of junket mogul Alvin Chau.

Wealthy Chinese gamblers have allegedly been encouraged to deposit millions of dollars into a junket operator’s Macau bank account, a red flag in respect of money-laundering controls.

The AUD100 million fine was announced on Monday and is the maximum fine allowed.

However, the NSW Independent Casino Commission stopped short of removing Star’s license altogether, to protect thousands of jobs, as cited in a BBC report. 

The casino, however, will still operate, under a manager appointed by the regulator.

The Star pledged that it would “do everything in [its] power” to regain its license and the public’s trust, and that it is committed to “to charting a path back to suitability.”

With the cancellation of numerous contracts between Suncity and casino regulators following the scandals surrounding the recent arrest of its CEO Alvin Chau, a senior Star executive admitted before an inquiry in March that the promoter to ultra-wealthy Chinese gamblers “was still operating at the Star, albeit not under the Suncity banner.”

The announcement contradicted the gaming operator’s statement back in 2019 that the two companies had already terminated their relationship – a relationship which came to light after a scandal in 2019 when Australian newspapers The Age and the Herald Sun revealed the operator’s ties to powerful Asian crime syndicates.