By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
AUSTRALIA’S Federal Court has ordered casino operator Star Entertainment Group to pay a AUS$260 million penalty for a series of major anti-money laundering (AML) breaches.
The court found more than 1,200 high-risk customers were able to gamble through channels that exposed the casino operator to elevated money laundering risks.
Star failed to verify customer information and sources of funds. It also fell short on due diligence and monitoring customer activity, according to AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial intelligence agency.
The penalty follows earlier fines and regulatory action after casino inquiries in Queensland and New South Wales.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said:“The Court found The Star did not simply fail to complete the right checks. It allowed high-risk customers to gamble without properly establishing where their money came from and put profit over compliance on a large scale.”
Star failed to verify customer information and sources of funds. It also fell short on due diligence and monitoring customer activity.
More than 1,200 customers gambled through channels carrying elevated money laundering and terrorism financing risks. These included cash deposits and third-party transactions where casinos did not record the third party’s identity.
Justice Moore said “a significant part of Star’s business was dependent upon turning a blind eye to customers who presented a high ML/TF risk”.
The court heard that revenue from junkets exceeded AUS$1.4 billion. Profits from junkets topped AUS$100 million in the pre-Covid years. Star’s own calculations put revenue from high-risk customers at about AUS$1.33 billion between November 2016 and November 2022.
“While those figures are not a measure of the benefit derived from the contraventions, the Court said they illustrate the potential to earn profits from a non-compliant approach to AML/CTF obligations,” AUSTRAC said.
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