Star Casino’s Gambling Permit to be Reviewed
The New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) has declared it will convene a series of public meetings to assess the appropriateness of Star Casino’s gambling permit.
Bell informed the ILGA that the public meetings will concentrate on the administration and upkeep of Star Casino’s anti-money laundering and anti-organized crime safeguards. These meetings will be a part of an examination of Star Casino’s operational practices that commenced four weeks prior. The review was started after the ILGA appointed Adam Bell SC to lead the review. The investigation will explore Star Casino’s adherence to the Casino Control Act 1992 and the Casino Control Regulation 2019, as well as Star Casino’s compliance with licensing and legal agreements with the New South Wales Authority. The New South Wales Authority will center on evidence presented by Star Casino on August 4, 2020, in the Bergin Inquiry against rival resort operator Crown Resorts. In this evidence, Star Casino stated that it would continue to collaborate with junket operators, who have been a significant source of the Crown investigation. Crown has been directed to stop working with these businesses during the investigation.
The public hearing is scheduled to take place in March of 2022, and ILGA will release a public report on June 30, 2022.
The most recent assessment of Star and its operations was carried out in 2016 by Senior Counsel Jonathan Horton.
In May, Star presented a proposal for a merger with Crown Resorts, which would have resulted in a company valued at A$12 billion (£6.71 billion/€7.76 billion/$9.43 billion). However, Blackstone, a private equity firm, submitted a bid for the company at A$8.02 billion (£4.47 billion/€5.21 billion/$6.19 billion).
The New South Wales inquiry into Crown Resorts’ gambling establishments in February uncovered evidence of money laundering and illegal activities.
Last week, Star denied claims that it disregarded a KPMG report on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. A few days prior, Star characterized media reports of money laundering as “misleading.”
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