John Alexander, who heads the largest Australian gambling operator, has addressed Crown resorts’ investors to inform them that the casino company is taking the recently faced allegations seriously and attacked anti-Crown activists for exposing claims about links to foreign criminal organisations through junket operators, money laundering and evading customs checks for its high-roller customers.
In a speech which Mr Alexander delivered at the annual general meeting of the casino giant, which took place earlier today, he said that the company does not tolerate any illegal activity, no matter if it comes to its staff members or casino patrons. At the meeting, the Crown executive chairman described the recent whistleblowers’ reports as “sensationalist and unproven” and explained that many of them were focused on allegations originating from over half a decade ago. Mr Alexander also acknowledged that the allegations faced by the casino giant had raised some concerns amongst the company’s stakeholders.
The meeting once again raised some questions related to the Australian casino operator’s transparency, or more precisely, the lack of transparency, as it was held in secrecy. No webcams, pictures or recordings were allowed at the time of the meeting, no transcript of the meeting was available, too.
Crown Resorts’ VIP Casino Player Turnover Suffers 46% Drop in Q1 of Current FY
Currently, Crown Resorts is subject to a number of investigations held by Australian gambling watchdogs and law enforcement authorities following some local gambling hubs’ reports that the largest gambling company in the country has been linked with powerful Asian criminal organisations through foreign junket operators that have been trying to lure affluent Chinese high-rollers to the brand’s casinos in Melbourne and Perth.
As Casino Guardian reported yesterday, the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) has called several senior federal officials to testify as witnesses at hearings into interactions between the Department of Home Affairs and Crown Resorts over some allegations associated with Chinese VIP casino patrons’ visas and other matters that have been described as issues of corruption.
The largest Australian casino operator stopped working in collaboration with one of its primary high-roller junket partners, Suncity, back in August 2019, after some local media made revelations regarding its VIP casino patrons’ program. These claims seem to have hurt the operator’s performance, as Crown’s VIP player turnover had declined by 46% in the first three months of the current fiscal year.
At today’s meeting, Mr Alexander refused to comment on investigations which are being held by the competent watchdogs in the states of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.
The meeting, on the other hand, was held at a time when the influence of former majority owner James Packer has already been significantly reduced, and the arrival the Hong Kong gambling tycoon Lawrence Ho as a large new investor in the company has been announced. Unfortunately for Crown Resorts, the presence of Mr Ho as an investor in the casino giant has fuelled a probe into the share purchase deal because of alleged links to Mr Ho’s father Stanley Ho, who has been prohibited from any involvement in the establishment of Crown’s Barangaroo casino.
- Author
Olivia Cole
