SkyCity has agreed to pay a $67m fine for money laundering breaches at its Adelaide casino

SkyCity will pay a $67m penalty to settle a money laundering case brought against the Adelaide Casino, which alleged that more than $4bn was gambled by 59 suspicious customers.

SkyCity has admitted serious breaches of the law.

SkyCity Entertainment will pay a $67m penalty to settle a money laundering case brought against the Adelaide Casino, which alleged that more than $4bn was gambled through the casino by 59 suspicious customers.

The financial crimes regulator Austrac brought the case in late 2022, alleging that SkyCity staff allowed individuals to gamble, despite knowing they were facing money laundering and drug trafficking charges.

SkyCity has said previously it will admit to “serious breaches” of anti-money laundering laws, and on Friday said it had come to an agreement with Austrac to pay a $67m penalty.

An agreed statement of facts has been jointly lodged with the Federal Court in relation to the “admitted historical contraventions” of the anti-money laundering legislation, and the court must now ratify the agreed settlement.

That is set down for a hearing on June 7.

SkyCity executive chair Julian Cook said in a statement the agreement was a significant step in resolving the proceedings.

“We acknowledge that, as a casino operator, we play a key role in combating money laundering and terrorism financing and safeguarding the community against these risks,” he said.

“While we take this responsibility seriously, we accept we have failed to live up to the standard required of us and for this, on behalf of the SkyCity and SkyCity Adelaide boards and management teams, I apologise.”

Austrac chief executive Brendan Thomas the watchdog took the action out of concern that SkyCity’s conduct meant that a range of high-risk practices, behaviours and customer relationships were allowed to continue unchecked for many years.

​Mr Thomas said the action serves as an important reminder to casinos and the gaming sector to take their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations seriously and be vigilant to money laundering and terrorism financing risks.

SkyCity’s Australian chief operating officer and the former head of the Adelaide Casino David Christian, resigned last month.

The company still faces a review of its suitability to hold South Australia’s only casino licence, with the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner putting that on hold until the Austrac matter was finalised.

Austrac’s allegations included that one customer who gambled $4.8m over three and a half years, was not banned from the casino until 10 months after he was jailed for more than eight years for money laundering and heroin trafficking.

Another casino client, identified as customer 33 in the Austrac action, gambled more than $33m over the course of a year it was alleged, and had told the casino they were at different times employed as a part time waiter, farm worker or cleaner, the 800-plus page claim said.

“Many (suspicious gamblers) engaged in large cash transactions and transacted with cash that appeared suspicious including in plastic bags, garbage bags, cash bundled together with rubber bands or irregular straps, cash that was dirty and cash that appeared to have been buried,” the court filing said.

The breaches covered a period from 2016 to 2022.