Crown Resorts regularly broke law in Melbourne high-roller room, inquiry told

Crown violated casino rules by giving credit to VIP gamblers who paid with cheques made out to themselves, Victoria’s royal commission has heard.

Tuesday’s evidence went into what happened in the Crown casino’s high-roller room.

Crown Resorts allowed a patron with a $100,00 casino debt to continue gambling at its Melbourne casino, regularly flouted Victoria’s Casino Control Act at its high-roller Mahogany Room by allowing gamblers to purchase chips through cheques made out to themselves, while loan sharks walk the floor preying on international students, a Victorian royal commission into the company has heard.

It also heard that certain Mahogany Room patrons could fund their activities with a blank cheque – but the executive overseeing services at the exclusive gaming room pushed back against that suggestion. Nevertheless, he conceded that many practices of the room were motivated by “money above all else.”

On Tuesday counsel assisting Geoffrey Kozminsky drilled Crown’s general manager of VIP Customer Service Peter Lawrence about responsible gaming in the Mahogany Room, presenting him with evidence from Ahmed Hasna, a high-roller who previously gave evidence to the commission in a closed session.

Mr Hasna said he had previously self-excluded from Crown Melbourne three times, once gambled for 26 hours straight in the Mahogany room and commonly bet thousands of dollars on a roulette spin.

After running up a $100,000 gambling debt in 2016 he could not repay, Mr Hasna told a Mahogany Room host he was considering self-excluding, but Mr Lawrence invited him back to play, telling the commission he did not know about Mr Hasna’s attempt to self-exclude or his financial difficulties.

Mr Hasna went on to lose a “significant” amount of money, potentially millions, although Crown says it was only hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mr Kozminsky said it was “predatory and irresponsible” to allow Mr Hasna to continue gambling. Mr Lawrence agreed it was irresponsible and “possibly” predatory.

Mr Kozminsky also asked Mr Lawrence if his table-game turnover based compensation package influenced his behaviour.

“You must agree with me, mustn’t you, that what’s driving you and your colleagues in the Mahogany room is money, when you’re looking at things, you’re motivated by money above all else – that’s the reality of the situation isn’t it, Mr Lawrence?” he said.

“I would accept that,” Mr Lawrence replied.

During the hearings Mr Kozminsky pointed out that under the state’s Casino Control Act it was illegal to deposit a cheque payable to anyone else but the operator in exchange for chips, even though at Crown it was common for patrons to fund their activities through a cheque made out to themselves.

“Given that’s right, do you accept that there has been on a regular basis, commonly, frequently, at the Mahogany Room cage, there were breaches of the Casino Control Act?” he asked Mr Lawrence.

“Yes,” Mr Lawrence replied.

Mr Kozminsky also produced the evidence of two Mahogany Room hosts, who stated certain customers “as a matter of course” were extended gaming credit through signing blank counter-cheques issued by Crown Resorts.

However Mr Lawrence, who has occupied his current role for nine years denied it was a practice even after it was indicated this might result in the commission rejecting his evidence.

Commissioner Raymond Finkelstein presides over the Victoria royal commission hearings. Picture: AAP

“Mr Lawrence, at the end of this commission, counsel assisting will make a submission that the evidence you’ve just given on this topic shouldn’t be accepted and that the evidence of the hosts about the practice of cashing blank cheques in the Mahogany Room should be accepted,” Mr Kozminsky said.

Mr Lawrence declined to change his evidence but under examination from commissioner Raymond Finkelstein he conceded it was “possible” that an approved customer may leave the value field of a cheque blank to be filled out when they had finished gambling.

Later in the day the commission heard evidence from Rosa Billi, Branch Head for Research and Evaluation at the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, who discussed findings of the Foundation’s 2018-19 study of gambling harm in the state’s population.

The study found that more than 27 per cent of the state’s pokie players played at Crown Melbourne – which has just under 9 per cent of all pokies in the state – and an analysis of the study’s data set found Crown patrons had a rate of problem gambling three times higher than other gamblers.

The commission also heard from the president of VicWISE’s Working Group on International Student Employability Manorani Guy, who said international students were especially vulnerable to gambling harm.

Ms Guy said international students often come from cultures unfamiliar with gambling and are sometimes handling their own money or possessing their own bank account for the first time, and are drawn to the casino as there are few alternatives for late-night entertainment in the CBD.

This makes them perfect targets for loan sharks on the casino floor who verbally agree to extend money and then modify the terms of the loan leading to the student having to hand over jewellery, their car or motorbike, resulting in domestic violence or abandonment of studies.

“Some of them have packed their bags and gone home to run away,” she said.

Ms Guy said Crown needed to enhance security protocols as sometimes even minors were entering the casino, and begin gathering data on international student patronage that can be used for a targeted responsible gaming campaign.

“Crown has the responsibility. They've got the money. They can clean up their act and be more responsible,” she said.

The commission continues on Wednesday.