Crown Melbourne to face inquiry blowtorch, as first witnesses listed

The probe into Crown Resorts’ Melbourne casino will hear its first evidence on Monday, and NSW regulators will be watching closely.

Commissioner Ray Finkelstein at an early hearing for Victoria's royal commission into Crown Casino. Picture: AAP

The Victorian Royal Commission into the suitability of Crown Resorts to operate its Melbourne Casino will begin hearing evidence from witnesses on Monday, with the witness list indicating Commissioner Raymond Finkelstein will be digging deep for current issues within the James Packer-backed company.

The six week program of hearings is pivotal not only for the future of Crown Melbourne, but also for Crown Sydney. NSW casino regulator chair Philip Crawford said on Thursday any “serious” contemporary issues of misconduct unearthed could result in Crown being blocked from opening the gaming floors at the $2.2bn Sydney casino.

The Victorian commission on Friday said four witnesses will appear next week: Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation managers Timothy Bryant and Jason Cremona, followed by Deloitte’s director of ethics, human rights and culture, Dr Murray Lawson.

Only one employee from Crown Resorts will appear during the week: the newly appointed head of financial crime and group money laundering reporting officer Nick Stokes.

In the preliminary sitting of the commission in March, Mr Finkelstein declared it was “not in the public interest” to revisit the issues discussed in the NSW Bergin Inquiry last year, which resulted in Crown being barred from opening its Barangaroo casino in February.

Mr Finkelstein said his primary issues of concern were “whether money laundering is still taking place at the Melbourne casino” and “whether Crown Melbourne is in breach of other legislation or regulation which governs the conduct of its casino operations.”

He also wants to evaluate “whether Crown Melbourne is in breach of any contractual obligations under the various agreements with the states” and “most importantly, the manner in which it deals with gambling addiction.”

It is likely Mr Bryant and Mr Cremona will be questioned about all of these issues, as well as the efficacy of the state’s casino regulatory regime, which is also part of the terms of reference of the inquiry.

Deloitte’s Mr Lawson will likely speak to the company’s current structure and culture, with the accounting and advisory firm currently reviewing Crown’s governance style and sweeping through its bank accounts to check for any signs of criminal infiltration and money laundering activity. The Bergin inquiry in NSW had concluded money laundering likely happened through two now-closed company accounts.

Mr Stokes is expected to face questions about the recent overhaul of Crown’s anti-money laundering regime, and may speak to Crown’s newly-minted agreement with the NSW regulator to transition all its Australian casinos to identity-linked, cash-free gaming.

The Victorian commission is due to report to the state government in August. A concurrent commission into Crown’s suitability to operate its Perth casino is also underway, currently limiting the scope of its hearings to members of the state’s gaming and wagering commission (GWC).

Earlier this week the Perth commission heard that the GWC had no policies in place for dealing with the risk of criminal activity and money laundering at Crown Perth while former chief casino officer Michael Connolly maintained friendships with senior Crown employees, but did not consider it a breach of code of conduct rules.

The WA commission will also eventually hear from Crown executive chairman Helen Coonan as well as current board members Jane Halton and Antonia Korsanos, while former SkyCity boss Nigel Morrison will make his public debut as a director for the company following his March appointment.

The WA commission will provide an interim report in June and a final report in November.