Commissioner Ray Finkelstein is examining Crown’s casino licence,with a heavy focus on whether it provides gambling services responsibly,after the James Packer-backed groupwas found unsuitable to run a casino in NSW in February.
Mr Lawrence also told the inquiry on Tuesday it was a “surprise” for him to learn that Victorian law prohibits Crown from accepting cheques from gamblers made out to anyone other than Crown,given it was common practice in the VIP Mahogany Room he manages.
That was the case in May 2016,when regular customer Ahmed Hasna visited the casino’s premium Mahogany Room and handed over a $100,000 cheque made out in his name for gambling chips,the inquiry heard.
The roulette player lost all those chips and his cheque bounced when Crown then tried to cash it,counsel assisting the inquiry Geoffrey Kozminsky said.
Mr Hasna told his Crown “host” he was in financial strife and could not immediately repay the debt,and that he was considering entering a legally binding “self exclusion” from the casino,according to evidence from the pair given outside the public hearings.
Crown’s records showed Mr Hasna had gambled without a break for 26 hours and 23 minutes on one occasion in 2008,and that he had banned himself from the casino that year and again in 2012.