Star’s Queensland casinos plead guilty to multiple breaches

On Monday, two of Star Entertainment’s biggest gaming venues pleaded guilty to multiple charges of violating Queensland’s Casino Control Act.

The Star Gold Coast and Treasury Brisbane pleaded guilty to seven new charges under the Casino Control Act 1982. Both admitted to illegally aiding customers to make use of credit cards to purchase gambling chips when placing wagers.

According to the Queensland Government, the breaches took place within different periods; the first was between June 2017 and December 2018, while the second occurred between March and April 2022.

Shannon Fentiman, Queensland Attorney-General, disclosed that both casinos violated Section 66 of the state’s gaming laws that banned the use of credit cards to buy gambling chips.

“The Queensland Government is committed to ensuring Queensland casinos are operated lawfully, ethically and in a way that maintains the highest standards of integrity and public confidence,” she said.

Fentiman also revealed that the casino operator would be sentenced on June 2, when Star will be informed of how much it will be required to pay in fines.

In October, Robert Gotterson’s inquiry discovered that Star had carried out China UnionPay transactions on the gaming floor while intentionally misleading the state’s gaming regulator to believe they were hotel expenses.

The National Australia Bank probed the casino operator’s use of the funds. According to Gotterson, Star’s response was “less than complete at best, and, at worst, deliberately misleading”.

As a result of the report, the company was fined $100 million and a special manager was appointed to oversee Star’s Brisbane and Gold Coast gaming operations. Nicholas Weeks, who was installed at Star’s Sydney casino by the NSW gambling regulator, currently oversees the operations of the two Queensland venues.

Star was also found to be luring high-rollers banned from other casinos in different states to its Queensland casinos. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) brought a separate legal action against the operator and some former directors and executives.

In the documents filed in late 2022, former Star board members John O’Neill (chairman) and Matt Bekier (CEO) were accused of failing to properly focus on the risks associated with money laundering and other criminal activity at the company’s casinos.

ASIC is aiming for penalties as well as declarations and disqualification orders for over 10 former executives and directors that neglected to carry out their statutory duties between 2017 and 2019. The penalties could attract fines of up to $1.05 million for each breach.

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