Blow for Melco in NSW gaming inquiry

The NSW Supreme Court has dealt a blow to hopes of resisting demands to hand over documents to the NSW gaming inquiry.

Former top police officer Nick Kaldas, pictured with Crown chair Helen Coonan, will lead the company’s review of its operations. Picture: Adam Yip

New South Wales’ high-stakes inquiry into Crown Resorts will resume public hearings next week after a courtroom victory cleared the way for its investigation to proceed.

The NSW Supreme Court of appeal has overturned a landmark judgment that limited the powers of a high-stakes inquiry into Crown Resorts’ casino operations after finding the judge “erred” in her decision.

Three appeal judges found on Thursday that NSW Supreme Court judge Christine Adamson had misread the relevant legislation with her ruling the inquiry did not have the full powers of a royal commission.

That included the right of the inquiry’s commissioner, Patricia “Paddy” Bergin, to compel witnesses and entities to breach professional client-lawyer privilege.

“With due respect, in our opinion, the primary judge erred in her construction of section 143A of the Casino Control Act,’ the judgment read.

The decision follows an 11th-hour legal challenge by Melco Resorts, the casino empire owned by Macau gaming tycoon Lawrence Ho, which argued the casino inquiry had wildly overstepped its powers after summonsing Melco to hand over nine documents.

On February 11, Justice Adamson found there was a lack of clear ­language in the ­Casino Control Act and it could not be interpreted to give the inquiry the power to breach legal privilege, which was a fundamental common law right.

But the appeal judges concluded the state’s casino legislation gave the inquiry commissioner the “implicit correlative right or power … to exercise compulsory powers unfettered by claims of privilege”.

“It was not open to Melco to resist the production of documents, which it was summoned to produce on the grounds of legal professional privilege,” the judgment said.

The successful appeal by NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman is likely to see the inquiry resumed as early as Monday after it was put on pause on February 26, pending the decision.

Ms Bergin has flagged an unprecedented investigation into Crown’s casino operations, including its use of high-roller junket operators and alleged links to Asian criminal gangs and money laundering.

It is also investigating whether Melco Resorts’ ties to Mr Ho’s 98-year-old father, Stanley Ho, could be in breach of Crown Resorts’ licence for the $2.4bn high-roller casino at Sydney’s new harbourfront precinct, Barangaroo.

The potential breach was triggered by a share deal between majority Crown share holder, billionaire James Packer, to sell 20 per cent of his shares to Melco in May last year.

Mr Packer’s private company, Consolidated Press Holdings, and Crown Resorts both face scrutiny over why the gaming regulator was not informed about the share deal, despite the fact that Stanley Ho was on the list of entities banned from having any involvement with the Barangaroo casino licence.

Both Mr Packer and Mr Lawrence Ho are both expected to appear as witnesses during the inquiry, which has been set down for six months.