Casino operator Star seems to have outdone even Crown’s misdeeds. The respective state inquiries into Crown in Sydney and Melbourne by Patricia Bergin and Raymond Finkelstein, and now Adam Bell into Star Entertainment showed none of them were mere dupes in the rule breaking. They were enablers. Crown secretly brought illegal Chinese junket operators and their clients on to its premises. So did Star in Sydney, which following the Bell inquiry’s interim report this week must show cause why it should keep its licence or avoid up to a $100 million fine. Star also provided customers with China UnionPay facilities to dodge China’s regulations and blow $900 million, disguised as hotel expenses.
Australia’s national reputation as a clean, safe jurisdiction is being trashed as casino operations across the country have their dark underbellies exposed. Phil Carrick
