Star faces big fines over money laundering breaches

Star Entertainment is facing fines totalling hundreds of millions of dollars, with the financial crimes regulator accusing the casino group of “innumerable” and systemic breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

Austrac launched civil proceedings against Star in the Federal Court on Wednesday over “widespread non-compliance”, which led to its Sydney and Queensland casinos being exposed to infiltration from organised crime gangs.

Austrac chief executive Nicole Rose said casinos must take their anti-money laundering obligations seriously.

“Criminals will always seek to exploit the financial system to launder their money and harm the community. Businesses, as the front line of defence of our financial system and our communities, are often the first to be alerted to criminal activity,” Ms Rose said. “Austrac’s investigation identified a multitude of issues including poor governance and failures of risk management and to have and maintain a compliant AML/CTF program.

“The Star entities also failed to carry out appropriate ongoing customer due diligence which has led to widespread and serious non-compliance over a number of years.”

Ms Rose would not comment on the quantum of the potential fine, saying it was a matter before the court. But in its statement of claim – which totalled more than 2000 pages – Austrac said star had breached the AML/CTF Act innumerable times, with each contravention attracting a maximum penalty of $22.2m.

Meanwhile, rival Crown Resorts has posted a near $1bn loss as it sets aside more than $600m to pay for fines levied by gaming regulators.

Star chief executive Robbie Cooke said: “Our goal is to earn back the trust and confidence of Austrac and all our regulators. We are transforming our culture, transforming our business. We are committed to improvement but there is a lot still to do.”