The ongoing investigation into Crown Resorts has heard that although the Australian gambling giant was aware of the fact that its method of helping high-roller customers to use credit cards in order to purchase casino chips was probably illegal, Michelle Fielding, the company’s head of regulation and compliance developed legal arguments in case Victorian gambling regulator had caught the irregularities.
As it became clear at the hearing, Crown Resorts used the advice, written by Debra Tegoni, its former legal adviser, to help so-called VIP players transfer over AU$160 million in a 4-year period by using their Chinese credit cards to the Southbank hotel, which exchanged the money into cash in order for the Melbourne casino patrons to be able to gamble.
At the beginning of June, Crown Resorts revealed that, according to its legal representatives, it had probably violated the Casino Control Act of the state of Victoria from 2012 to 2016, when it provided guests of its Melbourne-based Crown Towers hotel to make the aforementioned payments. The foul practice continued for 4 years and was put to an end after some employees of the Australian gambling giant got arrested for illegal gambling promotion in China. A week ago, the Commission revealed that similar transactions were been processed until 2019.
Australian Casino Giant Did Nothing to Stop the Foul Practice between 2012 and 2016
The beginning of the week saw the Royal Commission in Victoria hear further details of the gambling company’s cooperation with the casino regulator in the state, after there have been claims that Crown Resorts could have been more transparent in its relationship with the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR).
Penny Neskovcin, QC, who is the counsel helping the Royal Commission in its investigation, has shared her doubt on the Australian gambling giant’s willingness to learn from its past behaviours, especially when a company veteran admitted they had not got themselves acquainted with the report of the regulatory body.
Ms Fielding was also interrogated on why she left it up to the casino company’s board to initiate an investigation into Crown Resorts’ decision to allow its patrons to use China Union Pay credit cards to make payments ranging from AU$10,000 to AU$500,000 through a special National Australia Bank EFTPOS terminal situated at the reception of its Crown Towers hotel, and then withdraw the cash at the casino and use it to gamble.
The Royal Commission’s investigator also questioned why the current executives of the gambling operator have not taken the right steps to bring reforms to the company.
Ms Fielding, who got recently promoted to the position of executive general manager of regulatory and compliance at Crown Resorts, shared that she was unable to recall the details of the advice given to casino patrons in 2012. However, under cross-examination by Royal Commissioner, she agreed to the investigators’ point that the Australian gambling giant had simply taken advantage of some foul practices in order to attract more foreign customers to its casinos.
- Author
Olivia Cole
