Star Entertainment board to face Bell inquiry

Star Entertainment’s directors will face the Bell inquiry for its final week, following a torrid fortnight that included allegations of a toxic corporate culture at the troubled casino operator.

Star shares have lost 26 per cent of their value since the inquiry kicked off on April 15.

Star Entertainment’s board will front the Bell inquiry next week, after a torrid fortnight that included allegations of a toxic corporate culture that encouraged hostility to regulators.

Directors Anne Ward, Deborah Page, Michael Issenberg, Peter Hodgson and Toni Thornton will go head-to-head with inquiry boss Adam Bell SC, who will ultimately recommend whether the troubled casino group is suited to retain its Sydney licence.

Mr Bell’s first inquiry in 2022 resulted in the installation of a special manager to run Star’s casinos in both Sydney and Queensland, after he found breaches of money laundering rules and other misconduct.

Star chair David Foster and ousted chief executive Robbie Cooke have already been grilled at the inquiry, exposing a fractious relationship between the company’s executive team and the NSW Independent Casino Commission and its special manager Nicholas Weeks.

Star shares have lost 26 per cent of their value since the inquiry kicked off on April 15 amid rising concern the company will lose its licence and be forced to close the doors to its casino in harbourside Pyrmont. They have dropped more than 65 per cent in the past year.

Next week’s appearance by all non-executive directors is expected to spotlight the board’s oversight of key executives that came amid Star’s deteriorating financial position and regulatory troubles.

Former Star chief executive Robbie Cooke.

Anne Ward, who has been a Star director since November 2022, will continue her testimony after telling the inquiry this week she was “surprised and disappointed” by the content of messages between Mr Cooke and Mr Foster, which discussed war with the regulator and considered a class action against the NICC.

Ms Ward said that after the NICC lost confidence in Mr Cooke in December, she felt Mr Cooke should have left the business immediately, a view not supported by other directors.

“I had decided the sooner the better,” she said.

Star has faced a series of high-profile departures of senior executives in the past few months including Mr Cooke, chief financial officer Christina Katsibouba, chief legal officer Betty Ivanoff and chief customer officer George Hughes.

The inquiry heard that on Mr Cooke’s watch a $3.32m fraud was committed against Star involving malfunctioning cash machines that led to the chief financial officer being pressured to cook the books to make the losses more attractive on its financial reports. Mr Cooke told the inquiry that he had no knowledge of any move to pressure Ms Katsibouba.

Ms Ward told the inquiry that Ms Ivanoff told her that Star’s group leadership team (GLT) was not always spending time on the right matters.

“They were sometimes spending time on the wrong matters,” Ms Ward said. “She also suggested that some members of the team were not stepping up and playing the role that she would expect as members of a high-performing leadership team.”

Ms Ward said it was her view that the executive team was clearly functional but was not sure “it was functioning optimally”.

“It could have functioned more efficiently and effectively,” she said. She said the announcement of the second Bell inquiry came while the board audit committee was meeting, surprising directors.

“My recollection was that messages came in to board members which indicated the inquiry had been announced,” she said.

“I remember the time because the markets were due to open in very short order and we sought details of what had been announced and made a decision to seek a halt to trading of the company’s shares to give us an opportunity to consider whether there was a need for any further announcement.”

Under questioning from counsel assisting the inquiry Caspar Conde, Ms Ward did not recall telling the board the inquiry should be stopped.