AUSTRAC has taken Crown to the federal court over its money laundering failures.Credit:Joe Armao
Crown’s infiltration by international criminal syndicates and money launderers was revealed in a series ofreports byThe Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2019,and subsequently confirmed by damning public inquiries in NSW,Victoria and Western Australia.
AUSTRAC chief executive Nicole Rose said the watchdog’s investigation,launched in October 2020,found that Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth had failed to operate a compliant anti-money-laundering program and failed to conduct appropriate due diligence on “some very high-risk customers”.
Ms Rose said that while Crown had taken stops towards improving its controls,“there is further work to do” and AUSTRAC was working with Crown “to address ongoing compliance concerns”.
AUSTRAC’s court statement includes new allegations about the extent of suspicious and potentially criminal activity at Crown. It alleges Crown failed to conduct proper due diligence on 60 “high-risk” VIP customers,who bet more than $70 billion in its high-roller rooms and lost about $1.1 billion to the casino since March 2016.
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Crown allegedly knew some of those customers had been arrested or charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime and money laundering,while many engaged in suspicious activities such as carrying large amounts of cash into the casino in plastic bags or shoeboxes.
There were 75 “suspicious incidents” in which cash totalling $23.5 million was found in a Crown Melbourne private gaming room used by a high-roller “junket” tour operator. “The identity of some of the persons presenting and removing the cash from the casino premises was and remains unknown,” the AUSTRAC statement said.