Budget banks on a windfall of up to $150m from fines levied against casino giants

The budget has recorded a potential windfall from fines levied on Crown Casino, the Star Casino and SkyCity Adelaide.

The Albanese government is banking on as much as a $150m financial windfall from Australia’s embattled casino sector, with the budget recording contingent assets against Crown Casino, the Star Casino, and SkyCity Adelaide for their alleged anti-money laundering failures.

The three casino groups are all facing court action after Austrac took aim over their alleged failure to police the source of wealth of their clients and allegedly disguising transactions and spending by their patrons.

“Austrac alleges that these entities failed to comply with obligations under the AML/CTF Act, including failures to properly assess money laundering and terrorism financing risks, and failures to undertake appropriate customer due diligence,” the budget said.

“The outcomes of these matters are unknown, including whether any penalty is imposed by the Court and, if so, the quantum of such penalty.”

Although the budget does not detail the potential claims against Crown, Star, and SkyCity Adelaide, contingent assets are only recorded in the budget if the government expects to bank more than $20m in one year or $50m over the forward estimates period. The government could bank $60m, but that could rise to as much as $150m.

The potential claims could reach far higher, with Crown already fined $230m by the Victorian casino regulator.

An independent expert report prepared for Blackstone, which bought Crown, suggested fines for the gaming group could run as high as $680m in total.

Each contravention of anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing laws has a maximum $22.2m penalty.

Originally published as Budget banks on a windfall of up to $150m from fines levied against casino giants