Star Entertainment Group has been announced as unfit to hold its casino operating permit in Queensland.
Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman announced her inquiry findings, revealing that the casino regulatory body in the state will issue the Australian gambling giant with an official announcement as to why the company should continue operating casino venues in the state of Queensland. The announcement comes after an independent probe featuring 12 recommendations was released by the ex-Court of Appeal judge Robert Gotterson, including one that Queensland’s casino laws are amended with priority in order to allow a special manager to be appointed as part of an effort to boost casino operations’ integrity and supervision.
According to Ms Fentiman, the report put significant failures in the spotlight and made some serious findings that Star Entertainment’s integrity, character, and honesty had been affected. The Attorney-General found that the company had not been open or forthcoming in its relationship with its own banker or the regulatory body, and that Star Entertainment’s actions indicated that the company had put profit first.
For the time being, Star Entertainment Group runs two casino venues in the state of Queensland – Treasury Brisbane and The Star Gold Coast. Its Brisbane licence is set to be redirected to the development of the AU$3.6-billion Queen’s Wharf casino in Brisbane’s central business district as soon as it starts operation in 2023.
Star Entertainment Investigated over Alleged Violations of Queensland Gambling Laws
As Casino Guardian reported earlier, the inquiry was aimed to check Star Entertainment’s operations in Queensland, as well as whether it was in line with its anti-money laundering laws, its relationship with high-roller customers, junket operations, etc. The company’s alleged links to criminal organisations are still being investigated by the state casino regulatory body.
Attorney-General Fentiman ordered the new probe by the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) into the sustainability of Chow Tai Fook, which is the major shareholder of Star and Queens Wharf. Justice Gotterson revealed that some allegations that the founder of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) has been linked to some figures from the organised crime world had been made. Now, these allegations are set to be taken into consideration, although Justice Gotterson did not have compulsory power to investigate Star Entertainment’s fitness as part of the review.
The inquiries revealed that Star Entertainment actually actively encouraged high-risk gamblers and even offered them incentives to come to Queensland and visit the gambling company’s casinos, although there were many red flags and some of these gamblers were suspended from gambling at other states’ casinos.
The probe also found that Star Entertainment allowed AU$55 million to be masked as hotel expenses and accommodation fees to be gambled using so-called China Union Pay (CUP) debit and credit cards to pay for actual gambling expenses that breached the laws of foreign jurisdictions. According to investigation findings, the company made an effort to conceal the actual purpose of the aforementioned transactions and deliberately misled not only its own banker but also the state’s regulatory body.
The Government of Queensland has accepted all of the recommendations of Justice Gotterson in principle.
Star Entertainment issued a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), saying that it was taking the report and the issues raised by Mr Gotterson into consideration. The Australian gambling giant further shared that it would continue to cooperate with the state’s gambling regulator.
- Author
Olivia Cole
