Falling Star’s profit motive
Troubled Star Entertainment Group put ‘profit before compliance’, an inquiry heard as former top brass accused ousted chief executive Robbie Cooke of lacking integrity.
Mr Cooke came under consistent criticism yesterday on the third day of hearings by Adam Bell SC into Star’s suitability to retain its Sydney casino licence, with former executives lining up to attack their old boss.
Mr Cooke took over as Star CEO after a NSW Independent
Casino Com- mission inquiry led by Mr Bell in 2022 found existing management was unfit to operate a casino licence.
But Star’s former chief financial officer Christina Katsibouba said she resigned after losing faith in Mr Cooke’s “integrity” while the company’s former top lawyer also said she could not continue after he refused to provide copies of correspondence from the regulator.
And former chief customer officer George Hughes said despite some improvements, Star had operated under a culture of ‘profit before compliance’ including sending group messages to high-rollers that breached privacy by disclosing customers’ personal mobile phone numbers.
Ms Katsibouba said Star’s leadership team was “dysfunctional” under Mr Cooke, making her position untenable and she quit last month.
She said she declined to follow head of investor relations Giovanni Rizzo’s suggestion that she delay the booking of losses related to a cash machine fraud committed against Star from July to November 2023 to make the company’s position look stronger than it was. She said it was not an appropriate accounting standard.
Former chief legal officer Betty Ivanoff said she could not continue in the job after Mr Cooke refused to provide copies of correspondence from the Independent Commission.
Mr Cooke is expected to appear at the inquiry in the next two weeks.