One of the leading gambling companies in Australia – the Star Entertainment Group – confirmed that it faces another class action lawsuit over alleged shortfalls linked to the company’s lack of compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules.
The beginning of the week saw Star Entertainment release a statement sharing that the Australian gambling giant has been served a legal claim for securities class action in Victoria’s Supreme Court. The lawsuit was filed by Maurice Blackburn, the law firm that has been considering the possibility of starting legal action against the gambling operator for a few weeks now.
The new lawsuit alleges that Star Entertainment knowingly and purposely made misleading representations of its systems and processes linked to counter-terrorism financing and anti-money laundering in the period from March 29th, 2016 to March 16th, 2022. Furthermore, the class action alleges that the gambling giant failed to release crucial information in regard to the aforementioned methods for conducting business and controls in contradiction to the interests of its patrons.
Reportedly, the gambling operator acknowledged that the latest claim is pretty much similar to the ones included in another securities class action lawsuit that was filed by Slater and Gordon in March 2022. The company said that it intends to defend against the legal proceedings.
New Legal Action Linked to Alleged Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Violations
The latest announcement of the Star Entertainment Group marks the second class action lawsuit that is being faced by the Australian gambling and casino giant. As mentioned above, the first legal action of this kind was filed earlier this year by Slater and Gordon, and claims there may be proper grounds to accuse Star Entertainment of violating its continuous disclosure obligations, and further that the company had intentionally made false statements to deceive Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) officers.
In its statement released at the beginning of the week, Star Entertainment Group confirmed that the allegations cover the period between March 29th, 2016 and March 16th, 2022. The lawsuit claims that the Australian gambling company made misleading representations, including about its AML and counter-terrorism financing compliance processes and its systems. Apart from that, the legal action claims that Star Entertainment failed to reveal relevant information.
As a result of the latest probe into the alleged violation of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules, Star Entertainment Group experienced a share price decline. With details emerging about alleged possible links to organised crime and suspected money laundering, the value of the gambling operator’s stock was diminished by almost AU$1 billion. Despite the fact that Star Entertainment’s shares tried to mark a slight increase, their value still remained lower in comparison to the period before the allegations were unveiled.
Reportedly, some investors of the company initiated the lawsuits after noticing that their investment is costing them some money.
- Author
Olivia Cole
