Crown demands proof
Victoria’s gaming regulator, now conducting the sixth review of Crown Resorts’ operating license, will take a closer look at practices at the Australian company’s casinos. The scrutiny comes amid allegations Crown played fast and loose with industry rules and safeguards.
According to the Herald Sun newspaper, three purported ex-employees of Crown Melbourne said staff at the casino encouraged patrons to use different player ID cards to avoid reporting transactions over $10,000, a violation of anti-money laundering regulations; reset pokie machines to reduce returns to players; “shaved down” buttons on those machines to allow illegal continuous play; manipulated the buttons to disallow smaller bets; looked the other way in cases of illegal drug use; and even failed to alert police in cases of domestic violence among VIP guests.
Victorian Gaming Minister Marlene Kairouz said she has requested a “thorough and proper review and investigation. I take these matters extremely seriously.”
The startling claims were made by the anonymous whistleblowers in a video shown in a parliamentary session by Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie. James Packer’s company lost $350 million in share value on the news. Crown refuted the allegations in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, calling on Wilkie to “immediately provide to the relevant authorities all information relating to the matters alleged.”
Wilkie says he personally verified the identities of the whistleblowers, who had their faces blurred and voices altered in the 30-minute video. “If the allegations are true, it does suggest that there is a systemic problem rather than a rogue individual,” Wilkie said at a news conference.
“Some kind of investigation that has some powers to compel evidence is really what will be needed to get to the bottom of this,” said Francis Markham, a researcher at Australian National University who specializes in poker machines.
A spokesman for the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre said the anti-money laundering agency “takes all allegations of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing non-compliance seriously and will be examining these allegations further.”
Crown Executive Chairman John Alexander issued a statement saying he is “angered and disappointed by the outrageous allegations that have been leveled at us by Andrew Wilkie. Crown operates in a strictly regulated environment, with multiple government agencies and state law enforcement bodies supervising our operations.”
Credit Suisse dismissed Wilkie’s actions as “political fanfare” with allegations that have a “very low” risk of being proven true, but the headlines are one more headache for Crown, coming after the 2016 arrests of 19 employees in China. Those employees, who were apprehended in a series of nighttime raids, were detained for months in a Shanghai prison, then convicted of illicitly promoting gambling. Last July they were fined, released based on time served and deported.
In the aftermath of that scandal, Crown divested of its interests in Macau and Las Vegas to focus on its Australian operations. It is currently building an AU$2 billion resort on the Sydney waterfront.
Tim Costello, spokesman for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, slammed the whole gaming industry, saying, “The casino and gaming industry in Australia is the equivalent of the NRA—we have 20 percent of the world’s pokies, just like Americans have so many guns.
“This blind spot means we are the greatest problem gamblers by a country mile—way behind Singapore and then Ireland.”
Costello reserved special ire for a proposed casino complex at Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane, saying it’s “totally irresponsible.”
“Where other states have one casino—Sydney is about to get two—Queensland is leading the charge with the number of casinos, so I really think this is a bankrupt social policy.”
Costello told ABC News that state governments are “in bed” with the gaming industry. “Casinos are like laws unto themselves. They really run state governments and treasuries and it’s a cozy little deal largely locking all transparency and public criticism.”
Referring to the “explosive allegations” against Crown, he said, “Sending in the regulator to investigate Crown is the state government of Victoria investigating itself.”
Meanwhile, an explosive report on the license review process in the West Australian included excerpts of an interview with a man identified as “Peter,” a compulsive gambler who put himself on a self-exclusion list in Sydney, then actually moved to Perth to get away from the temptation of casinos.
Peter claimed he then flew to Crown Melbourne and lost $120,000 in three weeks, always playing with cash. He contends that he publicly took drugs including ecstasy and methamphetamine in a prelude to a suicide attempt. Peter said he was not deterred by casino security personnel.
“The public liaison officer came up to me and offered me a pass to go into one of Crown’s VIP rooms,” he told regulators. “He checked my ID, and came back and said, ‘You didn’t tell me that you were self-excluded in Perth. But it’s all good, as it doesn’t apply in Melbourne.”
Responding to those allegations, a Crown Resorts spokesperson said, “Crown has a very strong commitment to responsible gaming and we treat any responsible gaming issues raised very seriously. Crown is fully investigating this matter.”
