Crown Resorts’ top legal officer threatened to call Victoria’s gaming minister to complain that the state’s gambling watchdog was pushing it to implement new controls to guard against money laundering at its Melbourne casino,a royal commission has heard.
Victorian Commission for Gaming and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) licensing manager Jason Cremona told the state’s royal commission into Crown on Tuesday that the casino responded “pretty aggressively” to a letter he sent raising concerns it was failing to act on a key recommendation of a 2018 licence review.
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The recommendation – to tighten money laundering protocols by collecting more information about high-roller gamblers on “junket tours” – was due to be implemented by July 2019. But by May 2019 Crown had not taken any steps to put that in place,prompting the VCGLR write to the group raising its concerns.
Mr Cremona said he received a phone call the following day from Crown representative Michelle Fielding,who told him Crown’s then chief legal office Joshua Preston was “furious” about the letter and would probably “call the minister to complain”.
“I was clearly taken aback by the tone,the aggressive nature,” Mr Cremona told the commission. “Referencing calling the minister is almost like:well we take offence to what you said and we are going to take action.”
Commissioner Ray Finkelstein,QC,asked if Mr Cremona thought Crown’s intention was to get the VCGLR to withdraw the action it required Crown to take.
“Yes to an extent,” Mr Cremona responded. “But I was pretty solid in my position... there was no evidence Crown was taking any action to address recommendation 17 in line with our expectations.”
Finkelstein:“And[Crown was] threatening you for pushing it?”
Cremona:“Correct.”
Mr Preston left Crown last year after being grilled for several days at the NSW Bergin Inquiry,which found the company was unfit to hold a casino licence in Sydney (it is working to keep its licence). Ms Fielding still works at Crown in a senior legal role.
We’ll have more from the royal commission when hearings resume later this afternoon. It will roll on for the next six weeks.