Counsel assisting lists credibility of evidence from all witnesses at the Star Entertainment review
From pedantic and plainly untruthful to honest and candid, this is how lawyers summed up the credibility of every witness of the Bell review into Star Entertainment.
Counsel assisting the Bell review into Star Entertainment, Naomi Sharp SC, gave an assessment of the credibility of the inquiry’s witnesses on Tuesday as she recommended the company be found not fit to hold a NSW casino licence. Here is a summary of what the review heard. Further submissions continue on Wednesday.
Matt Bekier, former chief executive and managing director
“He was also a long standing employee. Mr Bekier became a director of Star back in August 2006 and director of Star Entertainment from March 2011. Mr Bekier resigned about one-and-a-half weeks into the public hearings in this review.
“He said he ultimately takes responsibility for the structure processes, policies, and risk management framework, as well as for the behaviour of executives at a senior level.
“Mr Bekier accepted without equivocation during his oral evidence that there were a number of shortcomings at the Star… including the money laundering risks with Salon 95.
“He quite frankly, said that the Star’s responses to NAB inquiries about CUP cards were quite misleading and deceptive and should not have been sent.
“He did make a number of very important concessions and you would generally accept that he was a frank and candid witness.”
Harry Theodore, former chief financial officer
“His evidence was, we submit, a very considerable concern in relation to CUP because of his involvement in …misleading in NAB and UnionPay International. Mr Theodore was very reluctant to make concessions in evidence.
“When he was questioned about the responses to NAB in relation to the use of the CUP card, his evidence to you was consistently to the effect it was not misleading or deceptive.
“Only after extensive examination he conceded that the responses were inappropriate and eventually he conceded that it was not ethical conduct.”
Greg Hawkins, Chief Casino Officer (NSW)
“Mr Hawkins has had a very lengthy career in the casino industry, including his time at Crown Resorts and the time he spent at casinos in Macau.
“Of some concern, while Mr Hawkins told you he had a general familiarity with the provisions of the Casino Control Act as a close associate, he did not seem to have a very good understanding of the requirements in the act that casino operators do business with those of good repute.
“We submit that there were occasions where Mr Hawkins’ evidence was ambiguous at best in relation to topics, given his role, and seemed like he should have had more precise knowledge.
“Mr Hawkins did have a tendency in his evidence to attribute others with having responsibility rather than taking responsibility for the matters himself. He gave evidence on a number of occasions that he wasn’t aware of any range of matters because they weren’t brought to his attention. In relation to the allegations relating to unpaid duty, his evidence was inconsistent.
“The evidence Mr Hawkins gave to the Bergin inquiry … is of considerable concern. We do submit that he gave false evidence to the Bergin inquiry in relation to not being aware of cash transactions in Salon 95.”
Directors
The directors should be accepted as witnesses of the truth.
“We wanted to single out the evidence of Ms Pitkin because of all the directors, Ms Pitkin was the director who has reflected most deeply and critically about what was going on within this organisation.
“There was a spectrum of witnesses in terms of whether the ASX releases on October 11 and 12 last year were misleading.
“We accept they were misleading.”
Skye Arnott, former chief financial crime officer
“We submit that Ms Arnott did not have a good understanding that the Casino Control (act) requires that the casino operator only deal with people of good repute.
“We submit that Ms Arnott was an evasive witness at times and often gave answers which were not clear. We submit that she made some poor decisions.
“It emerged in evidence that she had been provided with a copy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club report and she gave evidence that (she may have) shredded that document, which was of some concern.”
Andrew Power, Oliver White and Paula Martin, Star’s former in-house lawyers
“All three of the lawyers have resigned. We submit that at times their conduct was unethical and at times dishonest and that is particularly so with Mr Power when it comes to his dealings with the regulator in August and September of 2019.
“Mr White was a very long standing employee of Star Entertainment. He was a very emotional witness… somewhat broken, he was clearly remorseful for his conduct, but nevertheless, at times he would not make concessions where they were fairly due and his evidence was, at times, simply unclear. And one might doubt whether he was doing his best to give a frank account.
“Turning now to Mr Power his statement was another example of a labyrinth like statement which attended document after document but did very little to assist this review in understanding what the correct position was. A particularly good example of that is in relation to the Buchanan reports. It took me a very long time to work out what the correct versions of the Buchanan reports were in order to make sense of the story and we would submit that you would find there was deliberate obfuscation.
“(Ms Martin) was a highly unsatisfactory witness. We suggest she was the chief legal officer and the chief risk officer. In her oral evidence, she was extremely pedantic and technical and evasive and non responsive.
“She almost entirely failed to make appropriate concessions or take any personal responsibility for conduct. We submit that some of her answers were plainly untruthful.”
Mark Walker, senior vice president premium services operations
“He gave evidence to this review because he was the subject of media allegations. Those allegations related to leaving the employment of Crown Resorts when there were some probity accusations and also allegations about his relationship with high roller Michael Gu.
“We submit that Mr Walker was generally an honest witness and you should accept his account. We do submit that he lacked insight when it came to the question of whether he had a conflict of interest, and when I say that in the context of the fact that Michael Gu offered him a job when I was considering becoming involved in the ACT casino industry.”
Kevin Houlihan, former general manager financial crime and investigations
“Mr Houlihan was not prepared in evidence to draw a distinction between money laundering risks presented by patrons on the one hand, and what are called suitability risks and didn’t seem to have a clear understanding of the difference between the two. His consistent evidence was that a suspicion that a patron had engaged in problematic conduct was completely not enough to cease having a relationship with them and his position was that proof was required of that misconduct.
“He said that he reviewed the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s report (which exposed Chinese junket Suncity's links to triad criminal gangs). He did not see any clear involvement of any criminal enterprises and he felt he was not provided with … direct evidence of criminal enterprises. We submit that this evidence cast substantial doubt upon his judgement in his capacity as the investigations officer.
“We submit you should find that Mr Houlihan at various points was not a credible witness and he lacked candour in his answers.”
Angus Buchanan, group manager due diligence and intelligence
“We submit that Mr Buchanan came to the Star with good intentions and a wealth of experience. He did the right thing in making known to his colleagues the existence of the Hong Kong Jockey Club report. However, Commissioner Bell, you would have concerns about Mr Buchanan’s judgement, and he is, in our submission, an interesting case study in what a place’s culture can do to an individual.
“The evidence shows that the opinions expressed about Alvin Chau and SunCity were significantly watered down in the successive drafts he prepared from the period of October 2020 through two recommendations he made … in August 202. He had a number of meetings with Andrew Power and Kevin Houlihan along the way.
“It is our submission that you would conclude that Mr Power and Mr Houlihan applied pressure to him to water down the opinions expressed in his report. Why this reflects poorly on Mr Buchanan is because he did water down the expressions of opinion in his report.”
Michael Whytcross, former general manager finance and commercial
“He was the most senior person from a finance and commercial perspective in the Hong Kong office. He also occupied the position of the AML and CTF compliance officer for EEIS Hong Kong Proprietary Limited (Star subsidiary to grant Chinese patrons loans). Despite holding that position, it’s our submission that we had a very limited understanding of money laundering and counterterrorism financing legal obligations and he indeed conceded such.
“Of particular concern, Mr Whytcross told the review that he did not understand that the Star’s code of conduct required him to act in accordance with the spirit of the law, as well as the letter of the law. He said that when he was looking for work arounds to overcome the restrictions in Macau for transferring money out of Macau to casinos, he looked for alternatives that only complied with the letter of the law.
“As a general matter he was not a forthcoming witness and he needed to be pressed in order to make concessions. He lacked insight into the shortcomings of the Star and its money laundering compliance obligations.”
Phillip Dong Fang Lee, former Star patron
“Mr Phillip Dong Fang Lee was a high value patron, sometimes known as a high-roller. We submit that he was a generally credible witness.
His evidence was consistent… and he was candid in his evidence in the process he followed when using his CUP cards at The Star.”
Paulinka Dudek, assistant treasurer
“Ms Dudek was in a difficult position because while she had some degree of seniority, there were many senior to her directing her to do the wrong thing.
“We submit you should find that Ms Dudek was a truthful witness. She was quick to make concessions as to where her own behaviour was not in accordance with the code of conduct.”
Sarah Scopel, former treasurer
“Ms Scopel’s evidence changed significantly when she was probed and tested. She started in her evidence maintaining that the responses that she provided to NAB could have been clearer and more direct but actually didn’t feel it was misleading, to a position where she agreed that there was an attempt to distance the usage of the CUP card from funding gambling, to agreeing that the response was misleading and that she knew at the time that the response was misleading.
“She later agreed in evidence that the correspondence that she drafted to NAB was plainly misleading… and that her behaviour towards NAB, in relation to those queries about the CUP cards was dishonest and unethical.
“While Ms Scopel eventually made full and appropriate concessions that was only following lengthy questioning.
Tanya Arthur, NAB banker
“We submit that you should find that Ms Arthur gave credible and consistent evidence … even after searching and at times aggressive cross examination.”
Andrew Bowen, former NAB banker
“(Former chief financial officer Harry) Theodore gave evidence that he believed that Mr Bowen knew the true purpose to which the CUP cards (had been used). We submit that you should reject Mr Theodore's evidence and find that the evidence was untruthful and prefer the evidence that was presented by Mr Bowen.”
Graeme Stevens, former group compliance manager
“Many of the employees who gave evidence are very long term employees and … we will submit that that has had an impact on the culture of the organisation and has, to some degree, been responsible for a normalisation of what is plainly unethical and sometimes dishonest conduct.
“He told you that the ‘do the right thing’ value meant to act in the spirit of the law and to operate in an ethical manner, and that he had always adhered to this guiding principle. We submit plainly that is not correct.
He agreed that he knowingly misled the (NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming) Authority about the service desk in Salon 95 (where Suncity used to illegally exchange bundles of cash from backpacks for gaming chips).
“He also made admission in evidence that he lacked the necessary competence for his role.”
Paul McWilliams, former chief risk officer
“He gave evidence of Mr Bekier’s reaction to executive summaries of the KPMG reports and then what occurred at a subsequent meeting in 2018, with two representatives of KPMG. We submit that you will accept Mr McWilliams’ evidence of the manner in which Mr Bekier conducted himself at that meeting, and that is consistent with the evidence of the KPMG officers Mr Alexander Graham and Mr Jeff Sullivan.
Tarnya O’Neil, former head of internal audit
“Ms O’Neil gave evidence of her recollection of what occurred at the May 23 (2018) audit committee meeting in the wake of the KPMG reports. We submit there is no reason why you should not accept the evidence of Tarnya O’Neil.”
Alexander Graham and Jeff O’Sullivan, KPMG partners
“We submit he (Mr Graham) gave frank and credible evidence and there is no reason not to accept his evidence.
Mr O’Sullivan…was cautious and careful in the evidence that he gave. Again there is no reason not to accept his evidence.”
David Aloi, former NSW regulatory manager
“He too was a very long standing employee, having commenced with Star Entertainment in 1995 as a cashier services supervisor. He conceded a number of failings during his oral evidence. He agreed that he believed the CUP process was an artifice and said that it caused him some concern at the time and that he raised it with his manager.
“He also gave evidence that in the case of Mr Lee the Star prioritised the making of money over compliance with its own rules and other very serious compliance and regulatory concerns.
“Mr Aloi did make concessions when concessions were due and was a generally credible and honest witness.”
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