'Catastrophic:' sting urged over Star's myriad breaches
The Star has been named as a worse offender than Crown in breaking anti-money laundering compliance laws by letting high-risk gamblers funnel billions through its casinos.
As financial watchdog AUSTRAC seeks $400 million in penalties against The Star in the Federal Court, the company has cried poor saying that an amount this large would push it into administration.
Lawyers for the government agency pushed for a hefty fine on Tuesday, saying the casino operator and others in the industry should be deterred from similarly lax controls on potentially dirty money.
"The sting must be there in the penalty, it must maintain its deterrent effect," barrister Joanne Shepard said, as a hearing continued.
The Star has pointed to recent financial struggles, arguing it was only able to pay a fine of $100 million.
In contrast, Crown agreed to pay a $450 million fine in May 2024 for similar money-laundering breaches.
This amount was a "benchmark" which could be used to determine how much The Star could pay, AUSTRAC barrister Simon White SC argued.
"The conduct in this case is measurably worse than that in Crown," he said.
The Star's breaches were deliberate, he argued, in contrast to Crown.
Management at The Star continued to engage with high-risk gamblers without proper controls and risk assessments in place despite clear findings revealed in a public inquiry into Crown, Mr White said.
About $138 billion in cash turnover had come in solely through junkets with an additional $20 billion sourced from high-risk customers, Mr White said.
"$138 billion just from junkets coming through the casino environment is potentially catastrophic in so many ways Your Honour," he told Justice Cameron Moore.
The business had benefited from the breaches bringing in almost $1.3 billion in revenue through junkets at its Sydney and Queensland casinos and at least $1.33 billion more through high-risk gamblers.
Additionally, very significant volumes of high-risk cash were pushed through its slot machines, the court was told.
While a projected $343 million was expected to be paid to make The Star's anti-money laundering systems compliant, this should have been an expense made years ago, Mr White said.
And without the proper measures in place, the casino had an unfair competitive advantage over its rivals, he noted.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ms Shepard argued against The Star's claims of financial distress.
She pointed out that a "white knight" had recently emerged with US gaming giant Bally's Corporation promising to inject $300 million into the firm.
The casino could raise further capital, look into debt refinancing or dip into almost $60 million set aside from the sale of its Treasury Brisbane business, she told Justice Moore.
In the 2017, 2018 and 2019 financial years, The Star had brought in $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion in annual revenue, Ms Shepard said.
In the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm's revenue never dipped below $1.5 billion, she added.
An independent expert report released in May valued The Star between $1.17 billion and $1.38 billion with liabilities of about $490 million, the court was told.
The hearing continues.
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