Crown casino: We’ve got a ‘gold star’ for fighting money laundering
In his first comments to the media on the scandal that has engulfed Crown Resorts, the head of the casino group says it has no interest in being used by people who do the wrong thing.
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Crown Resorts says it regularly reports suspicious matters to law enforcement agencies and regulators and has “zero tolerance for criminal elements” who seek to launder money through its casinos.
Chair John Alexander has robustly defended the casino heavyweight, saying Victorian gaming regulators were at Crown Melbourne “24 hours a day, 7 days a week”.
In his first public comments since Crown was hit with allegations that some junket partners had links to organised crime, Mr Alexander said the company had always cut ties with any group or individual identified as a risk by regulators or law enforcement agencies.
“Crown has no interest in being used by those who would do the wrong thing — that is demonstrated by our strong record of co-operation with law enforcement and regulators to combat crime,” he said.
“We are not a law enforcement agency but we work very, very closely in liaison and consultation with all law enforcement agencies.
“These agencies actively use intelligence willingly provided by Crown for their own monitoring and investigative purposes.”
Mr Alexander said Crown was constantly working to improve its internal processes to guard against money laundering.
It had hired financial crime expert Neil Jeans of consultancy Initialism to probe the integrity of its internal systems last December.
Mr Jeans was the expert witness used by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, or Austrac, in its landmark prosecution against the Commonwealth Bank.
He had given Crown a “gold star” for its systems, Mr Alexander said.
He comments came as Crown reported a 28 per cent slump in net profit to $401.8 million for the year to June following a sharp drop in its high-roller business.
Revenue from its hotel, casino and wagering operations fell 5 per cent to $2.93 billion.
Main floor gaming revenue in Australia inched up 0.5 per cent to $1.6 billion but turnover from high-stakes VIP players slumped 26.1 per cent to $38 billion.
The knock to the bottom line comes as Crown fends off allegations that some of its junket partners — third parties that bring in high rollers from overseas — have links to Chinese organised crime groups.
The allegations, reported by Nine Entertainment, have sparked investigations by gambling regulators in Victoria and New South Wales.
An emotional Mr Alexander said Crown had been “sprayed” with “sensationalist” allegations that had taken a heavy toll on staff.
He defended the use of junket operators, saying they were an established and accepted part of the global casino industry.
“They are subject to stringent approval processes,” he said.
“If there are any concerns raised by the Australia Federal Police, or state police, or Border Force or Austrac or any of the casino regulators about a junket operator, or for that matter any individual, we stop dealing with that organisation or those individuals.”
Crown’s reliance on junket operators increased significantly after some of its employees were arrested in China in 2016.
Chief financial officer Ken Barton said it was an “open question” as to how much Crown would use the operators and said he expected the VIP market “to evolve”.
Crown confirmed its biggest junket operator, Suncity, had shut its private high-roller rooms in its casinos as it pulls back from the Australian market.
Austrac chief Nicole Rose this week said Crown was “very good” at complying with its anti-money laundering requirements but there were “gaps” in the regulatory framework around junket operators.
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation is also yet to finalise its report into the arrest of Crown staff in China in 2016.