Ex-Star boss told of covert police investigation in gaming room

Former Star Entertainment boss Matt Bekier was informed about a covert NSW police operation investigating suspicious cash transactions at Star Sydney, a court has heard.

Court hears of covert police operation at Star Sydney.

Former Star Entertainment chief executive Matt Bekier was informed about a covert NSW police operation investigating suspicious cash transactions at Star Sydney, a court has heard.

Star’s former chief counsel Paula Martin told the Federal Court that she recalled calling Mr Bekier in July 2018 to notify him of the operation and that NSW police were liaising with the investigations team on the matter.

Ms Martin told Mr Bekier that the operation was targeted at a number of people, including some associated with Macau-based junket operator Suncity, who operated the Salon 95 private gaming room at Star Sydney.

ASIC is suing Ms Martin, Mr Bekier and seven other former executives and directors in relation to breach of money-laundering controls at the company’s casinos.

Subsequent to the covert investigation by NSW Police, several Suncity workers at Salon 95 were excluded from the casino by the police.

Ms Martin said she had told Mr Bekier there were concerns about the seriousness with which the company’s compliance team was taking suspicious cash transactions at Salon 95.

She said these concerns were raised by general counsel Andrew Power in Sydney following reports of bags of money being delivered to Salon 95.

“I told Mr Bekier that Mr Power initially had some concerns about the level of seriousness that the compliance team were acting with on this matter, and I’d asked him to take that issue up with Mr (Paul) McWilliams who headed up the risk and compliance team and ensure that the legal team was providing support to Mr McWilliams team,” Ms Martin said.

She said earlier in the year she had given an update to Mr Bekier about the suspicious activity that was emerging at Salon 95.

“I told Mr Bekier that I now understood the nature of the events and incidents that had been reviewed in relation to the Suncity Room, and they were incidents of the sort that involved particular events of cash handling and transactions,” said Ms Martin. “One was in the nature of chip and cash transactions, the other sort was cash transactions that did not appear to be connected to junket players, otherwise permitted to be in the room. And the other was other types of cash handling that appeared suspicious to the investigators.”

Ms Martin told Mr Bekier that the chip and cash handling type transactions could give rise to a risk of Star breaching provisions under the Casino Control Act.