The court has approved the deal between Australian financial watchdog AUSTRAC and Crown Resorts for the payment of a AU$450 million ($300 million) fine, with Crown expected to make the full payment over a two-year period.
New Crown CEO Ciarán Carruthers noted that he is satisfied that the matter has ended.
“Under new ownership and leadership, we have introduced sweeping reforms as part of our Future Crown transformation program,” Carruthers told IGB.
“We have invested tens of millions to bolster financial crime compliance and embed global best practice for the gaming sector,” he said.
He added there is no place at Crown for money laundering or terrorism financing.
This specific court action had its origins in 2022, when AUSTRAC initiated proceedings against Crown for “serious and system” money laundering and counter terrorism financing failings in Melbourne and Perth. It follows other fines leveled at the operator by state authorities.
Crown admitted to breaching AML laws and failing to track billions of dollars in transactions including international payment flows.
AUSTRAC said Crown was unable to identify potentially suspicious activity, and also unable to report suspicious matters.
Between March 2016 and December 2018, 75 suspicious “incidents” involving about AU$23 million ($19.8 million) in cash occurred in a private gaming room at Crown Melbourne, where one casino junket operator had exclusive access.
Crown had also maintained a relationship with a casino junket operator alleged to have been tied to organized crime – former top Macau junket operator Suncity.
The Bell inquiry also found Crown to have used various other methods to provide credit to punters that went against AML/CFT laws and that the group had been lax in its oversight of players at risk of money laundering or with dubious backgrounds.
