Crown Sydney casino opening delayed after crucial admission at money laundering probe

The opening of Crown Resorts’ new Sydney casino has been delayed after a huge admission at the inquiry into whether it is fit to run the development.

Crown Sydney casino in Barangaroo will not open next month as planned. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Steven Saphore

The opening of Crown Resorts’ new Barangaroo casino in Sydney has been delayed by the gaming regulator after one of the company’s lawyers made a huge, last-minute admission at the inquiry determining the fate of the $2 billion plus venue.

New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority chair Philip Crawford said on Wednesday afternoon the regulator was “not comfortable” with Crown’s gaming operations going ahead before the findings from the inquiry were handed down in February.

“We are concerned that this particular type of business is a magnet for money laundering,” Mr Crawford said.

“It affects liquor licenses and importantly it is about whether certain key people are fit and proper to be associated with a casino.”

Counsel assisting the inquiry has argued in closing submissions that James Packer, who is Crown’s major shareholder, should have no association with the upcoming Sydney casino, due to prior poor behaviour.

Mr Crawford said revoking the gaming licence for Crown Sydney was an option on the table.

Crown Sydney was expected to open in December but has been delayed till at least February. Picture: Richard Dobson

“It is certainly available to us. That’s what we are looking at whether they are fit and proper to retain the licenses given to them in 2014,” he said.

“We did suggest originally to Crown that we would be happy to talk to them about a limited opening.”

In closing submissions to the long-running inquiry on Wednesday, Crown’s counsel Robert Craig said there had been “mistakes and shortcomings” in the company’s money laundering oversight, and it “must seek to deter and disrupt” the practice rather than just reporting it to authorities.

Mr Craig then said two reports by advisory firm Grant Thornton and anti-money laundering compliance solutions group Initialism had concluded “cuckoo smurfing” could be seen in the accounts of two Crown subsidiaries named Riverbank and Southbank.

Cuckoo smurfing is a form of money laundering where large transactions are split into small transactions in a bid to disguise them.

“Crown accepts that there were funds deposited into the Southbank and Riverbank bank accounts that Initialism has found to be indicative of cuckoo smurfing — so it is indicative of a form of money laundering,” Mr Craig said.

“Cuckoo smurfing is a sophisticated money laundering typology whereby innocent parties make and receive legitimate payments that illicit funds are inserted into the process of making those legitimate payments.

“Crown accepts that an inference can be drawn that at some point in time, deposits into the Riverbank and Southbank accounts were more probably than not part of cuckoo smurfing activity.

“That is an acknowledgment that directly arises from the work done by Initialism and Grant Thornton.”

The Crown Casino development Sydney will not open next month as planned.

The last minute concession clearly angered commissioner Patricia Bergin, who received a letter about it at 11pm on Tuesday.

She said it was “incredible … this is happening in the middle of the night” despite the reports likely being under way for some time.

“There was no notice of any of this,” Ms Bergin said.

“It just seems to me to be rather unsatisfactory.

“This material should have been produced last year or at the beginning in February when the material was summonsed.”

ILGA then issued a statement saying the slated opening of Barangaroo next month should be delayed “in light of ongoing concerns over the company’s suitability to run the casino”.

Crown on Tuesday said it would axe all relationships with junket operators, which were the crux of money laundering allegations made against the casino.

Mr Crawford claimed money laundering activities were occurring in other parts of Crown, despite public evidence predominantly showing acts of money laundering were conducted through overseas junket tours.

“The authority has found ongoing evidence before the Bergin inquiry to be extremely concerning, and that any gaming activity at the casino before the inquiry’s findings are released in February 2021 and considered by the authority would pose unacceptable risks on the community against the public interest.”

He said ILGA was prepared to work with Crown to explore options that may allow non-gaming areas of the development to open next month.

Moody’s Investors Service analyst Maadhavi Barber said the decision to postpone the opening was negative to Crown’s credit rating.

“The decision highlights the potential severity of findings by the inquiry, and the risk of meaningful sanctions and/or limitations on Crown’s ownership and operations,” Ms Barber said.

Reclusive billionaire James Packer will no longer get special treatment over other shareholders, the inquiry also heard.

The inquiry was sparked by explosive media reports last year claiming the gaming giant at the very least turned a blind eye to money laundering by high rollers brought to its Perth and Melbourne venues by Asian junket operators, with leaked video footage of massive amounts of cash changing hands in a VIP room set aside for them widely broadcast.

Ms Bergin previously said it appeared Mr Packer either ran or was very interested in the VIP business, which the Barangaroo development has been designed to cater to.

It has been suggested the reclusive billionaire’s influence was inordinate, given that as its largest investor, he had a “controlling shareholder protocol” that gave him privileged information about the business.

Mr Packer also seemed determined to sell down his stake to Hong Kong-based casino operator Melco Resorts and Entertainment, a deal not allowed by the regulator due to the late father of the company’s chief executive having links to underworld figures.

But half of it did go ahead, then Melco sold off its stake.

Earlier on Wednesday, another barrister for Crown, Neil Young, said no evidence had been produced that proved Mr Packer meddled or swayed decisions after leaving the board in 2018 due to mental health reasons.

“The evidence doesn’t rise higher than saying he had an obvious and legitimate interest,” Mr Young said.

However, he then said Crown would in future have a “stock standard” relationship with its biggest shareholder while an ongoing process of board renewal was “entirely the right course in the circumstances of the company”.