Australian gambling giant Crown Resorts has been found unfit to hold a casino license at its Barangaroo location by the long-awaited report on the company’s operations.
The report of the former New South Wales supreme court judge Patricia Bergin SC, which was made public mere hours ago, said that according to evidence of money laundering gathered during the probe, Crown Resorts’ association with junket operators possibly linked to criminal organisations and the company’s operations in China that resulted in the arrests of its staff five years ago, the gambling giant and its executives were unsuitable of holding the Barangaroo casino licence.
However, Ms Bergin’s report suggests that the local gambling regulator, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA), should give Crown Resorts the chance to make noticeable changes so that it keeps its licence. The changes that could be taken by the Australian casino giant include a major overhaul of the board, as well as some engaging undertakings in order for the company to reform its business. However, Ms Bergin has not suggested that the main investor of the company, James Packer, should dispose of his assets in the company.
The gambling company would probably be asked to implement enhanced control on its operations so that money laundering at its casinos is prevented so that the ILGA is assured that no further arrangements of the operator would facilitate its return to what the report described as “a dysfunctional environment”. The 800-report, which was handed down by Ms Bergin on February 1st but was made public earlier today, will also have implications for the company’s licences of Crown Resorts in Melbourne and Perth.
ILGA Would Have the Final Word on Casino Giant’s Barangaroo Operation Licence
The report has finally been unveiled after a year-long investigation in the company’s operations ordered by the local gambling regulator and involving a check-up of some systemic issues found at the already existing casinos of the brand in Melbourne and Perth. Its main objective was to find out whether the casino giant was suitable to hold the operating licence for its new casino on Sydney Harbor.
During the probe, some findings of incidents of money laundering and links to international criminal organisations through Crown Resorts’ collaboration with so-called junket operators emerged. Furthermore, the inquiry was also aimed at revealing whether the casino operator broke any of its regulatory arrangements at the time when its main investor James Packer announced the sale of some of his shares in the company to Melco Resorts.
For the time being, the report of Ms Bergin means that the casino operation of Crown Resorts in its new AU$2.2-billion complex in Barangaroo will almost certainly be suspended from working without some serious changes implemented by the company. However, such measures still have to be officially adopted by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
Since the end of 2020, a hotel and a number of restaurants in the Barangaroo tower have been operational. The new high-roller casino was due to start operation in December 2020 but local regulators did not allow it to open because of the then-ongoing investigation.
The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, which is the regulator that will have the final word over the fate of Crown Resorts’ Barangaroo gambling licence, is set to hold a board meeting next week, on February 17th.
- Author
Olivia Cole
