The list of regulatory slip-ups continues to grow for Crown Resorts, as the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) recently announced it has levied an additional US$13.6 million worth of penalties against Crown Melbourne for violations relating to casino tax payments.
According to the VGCCC, the violations were pointed out in the findings of 2021’s Royal Commission (RC) that resulted in Crown being deemed unsuitable to hold its Melbourne casino license.
The inquiry revealed that Crown had attempted to claim improper tax deductions by categorizing promotional and marketing expenses as winnings paid out to players, and also took steps to hide these deductions from the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, the predecessor to the VGCCC.
The scheme was uncovered when RC investigators noticed a document accounting for the amount of unpaid tax among the many files disclosed by Crown as part of the inquiry process.
The operator has acknowledged the violations and already paid the State of Victoria a total of $42.3 million—$25.7 million in back taxes and an additional $16.6 million in interest penalties. The new $13.6 million fine is a separate sanction.
“Crown and other gaming licensees have important obligations to pay gaming taxes to the state,” VGCCC Chairperson Fran Thorn said in a statement, as reported by Inside Asian Gaming. “Not only did Crown breach its obligations by claiming tax deductions to which it was not entitled, Crown also made significant efforts at concealment.
“The VGCCC will not tolerate this behavior. We expect licensees to comply with their tax obligations and to be transparent in their dealings with us. We have today imposed a significant fine of AU$20 million on Crown to send a clear message that this type of conduct will be met with strong disciplinary action. This fine also sends an important message to other gambling operators about the importance of complying with their obligations to pay gambling taxes and the need for frank and open dealings with the regulator.”
All told, the VGCCC has now fined Crown a total of $172 million in the aftermath of the RC. The operator also recently agreed to a $293 million settlement with the financial crime regulator AUSTRAC over violations of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
And, if that weren’t enough, the company has also been hit with another $161.1 million in fines for other compliance issues, such as allowing players to use China UnionPay bank cards to fund gambling, allowing players to cash checks to fund gambling and other responsible gaming violations.
