A senior casino manager has confessed that he knowingly misled the gambling regulatory body of New South Wales (NSW) about how so-called junket operators, also known as junkets, have operated inside a private VIP customer wagering room at The Star Sydney Casino.
Earlier today, the group compliance manager at Star Entertainment Group, Graeme Stevens, resumed giving evidence at the inquiry of the Royal Commission into the Australian gambling giant. The Commissioners are trying to get enough evidence before making an official recommendation whether the Sydney Casino of Star Entertainment should be allowed to keep its licence.
The gambling regulatory body of the state of New South Wales – the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) – is currently investigating allegations that criminal activity, such as money laundering, has infiltrated the Sydney casino of the gambling operator. The watchdog is also investigating whether the operating permit of The Star Sydney should be stripped after some highly critical reports in local media hubs.
Mr Stevens was one of the people whose opinion regarding a building approval submission to the regulator for the aforementioned high-roller customer wagering room at the casino was sought. The private gaming groom in The Star Sydney casino is called Salon 95.
The inquiry heard that the submission did not refer to a window being installed to allow cash or chips into the room. The assisting counsel Nicholas Condylis asked Mr Stevens whether he was accepting that the submission had not referred to the cage in Salon 95, or a buy-in desk in the gaming room, and the senior casino manager confirmed that.
Star Sydney Casino Could Hardly Control Salon 95’s Operations, Stevens Claims
When asked whether his then-submission was misleading, Graeme Stevens said that it did not provide any details that the junket operator of the VIP card room had actually been receiving cash from the players. He further shared that the submission had not revealed that the junket operator of Salon 95 used to buy in to the rebate program with the casino. He also agreed that he had knowingly misled the regulatory body with his claims at the time.
Junket operators in Salon 95 were issued so-called non-negotiable chips to players. The inquiry learned that if players generated a winning, they exchanged the chips for premium chips, which were then once again exchanged into non-negotiable chips. Also, each junket operator received one set of non-negotiable chips, which were either offered in Australian or Hong Kong dollars.
So far, the investigation has found that Suncity, a Macau-based junket, was one of the overseas junkets operating inside Salon 95. According to previous claims, it was not to handle cash. However, the probe earlier today learned that bags of cash were used to be brought to the service desk of the Star Sydney’s VIP room, which basically means that it was operating as an illegal cage and the state’s gambling regulatory body had not been informed about that.
Mr Stevens also revealed that Salon 95 pretty much had its own life, which the casino had hardly been able to control.
Senior Casino Manager Admits to Knowingly Misleading Regulators about CUP Cards Used for Gambling Transactions
The casino’s junkets, or the “international rebate business” of The Star Sydney, have been one of the key issues put in the inquiry’s spotlight. The business is known as one involving massive marketing efforts to attract high-roller customers to the Star Entertainment’s casino, with many of the affluent casino patrons originating from mainland China where gambling remains illegal.
Previously, Mr Stevens rejected a suggestion from Naomi Sharp SC, the assisting counsel, that he knowingly misled the regulatory body about the use of the China Union Pay (CUP) card at The Star Sydney, in an attempt to defend his actions at the casino back in 2013 and 2014.
The senior casino manager also denied the claims that he tried to mislead the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority by failing to disclose a casino workaround linked to the aforementioned CUP card both in 2013 and 2014, saying that he did not intentionally make the decision not to disclose anything to the regulators.
As Casino Guardian already reported, the investigation has learned that the Chinese financial services operator China Union Pay had suspended the use of its cards for gambling transactions but The Star Sydney disguised its customers’ gambling expenses as hotel accommodation charges. Reportedly, the CUP cards facilitated gambling transactions worth approximately AU$900 million until terminals inside the casinos of Star Entertainment were disabled in 2020.
- Author
Olivia Cole
