Article: Australian financial crime watchdog widens probe on casinos already reeling from COVID

Article - Media

Australian financial crime watchdog widens probe on casinos already reeling from COVID

Reuters, 07 June 2021

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s anti-money-laundering agency on Monday widened a probe into due diligence at casinos to include the three biggest operators, ratcheting up pressure on a sector already struggling with the pandemic and heightened regulatory scrutiny.

Months into an investigation of top player Crown Resorts, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) said it was formally looking into possible breaches of background check rules at rival Star Entertainment Group and New Zealand’s SkyCity Entertainment Group.

That means owners of casinos in Australia’s five most populous cities now face enforcement investigations that could carry fines or restrict their licences. Continue reading “Article: Australian financial crime watchdog widens probe on casinos already reeling from COVID”

Article: Crown ‘lied’ in Victoria, evidence of money laundering in Perth

Article - Media, Publications

Crown ‘lied’ in Victoria, evidence of money laundering in Perth

Elouise Fowler and Brad Thompson, 17 May 2021

Crown Resorts management “lied” and used delay tactics to stymie an investigation into the 2016 arrests of 19 China-based staff, the Victorian gambling regulator told the Crown Resorts royal commission on Monday.

Timothy Bryant, an investigator at the gambling watchdog, told the Victorian inquiry that Crown’s stonewalling meant it took longer to uncover the truth about the gambling giant’s failure to protect its staff, 16 of whom were jailed for illegally promoting gambling in China.

“I certainly consider that they [Crown], at times, they lied to me at interviews about what they were aware of and what they weren’t aware of,” Mr Bryant revealed to the inquiry, which is examining Crown’s suitability to hold its Melbourne casino licence. Continue reading “Article: Crown ‘lied’ in Victoria, evidence of money laundering in Perth”

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