Crown Resorts has been fined a record amount of AU$120 million by the gambling regulator of Victoria over its breaches to comply with responsible gambling rules.
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) revealed that it imposed record monetary penalties on the Australian gambling giant after finding that the company’s Melbourne casino failed to prevent gambling-related harm by allowing its patrons to continuously gamble for long periods without a break. According to the state’s gambling regulator, Melbourne casino customers were sometimes allowed to gamble for over 24 hours.
The probe also found that the casino did not comply with a statutory declaration to prevent patrons from using various methods and devices, including plastic pics, to simulate so-called automatic play on poker machines. The investigation of the state’s gambling watchdog also found that the casino even provided patrons with Crown Resorts-branded picks
The VGCCC announced the record monetary fine on November 7th, saying that it sent a clear message that the state’s gambling watchdog would not tolerate any misconduct. Fran Thorn, the chairperson of the Victorian gambling regulatory body, noted that Crown Resorts failed in its moral and legal obligation to tackle gambling-related harm to the patrons of its Melbourne casino facility. Ms Thorn further noted that the aforementioned violations were not isolated, but a pattern of sustained, extensive, and systemic failures of the Australian gambling giant that spanned approximately 12 years.
Two Separate Issues at Crown Melbourne Result in the Record VGCCC Fine
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission’s chair explained that Crown Resorts was on probation and in about 15 months, the regulator is set to make a decision to determine whether the Australian gambling giant is fit to keep its operating licence. If the company is found unsuitable to do so, then it would suffer a much bigger blow than the recently-announced AU$120-million fine.
The regulatory fine was imposed on the company for two separate issues and was based on the state’s Royal Commission findings into Crown Resorts’ suitability to hold a casino operating permit. The AU$100-million fine was imposed on the operator due to its failure to prevent Melbourne casino patrons from gambling for over 24 hours straight. An additional AU$20-million penalty was imposed as a result of the casino venue’s failure to stop patrons from using plastic picks and other devices to jam some electronic gaming machines’ buttons in order to initiate automatic play.
As mentioned above, this is the first time the VGCCC has hit the company or any other gambling operator in the state with such a massive monetary penalty.
Crown Resorts issued a statement following the announcement of the monetary fine, saying that it was truly remorseful for its compliance with gambling legislation in the past. The Australian gambling giant has already started making some changes in its corporate structure and policies as part of the reform and remediation program but it noted there was a lot more to be done.
The past 18 months have seen Crown Resorts literally double its investment in responsible gambling after regulatory bodies across the country have found it unfit to hold casino licences because of social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. Now, the operator had accepted the VGCCC disciplinary action and agreed that it has to continue working on its operations.
- Author
Olivia Cole
