The Western Australia Sate Government has announced that it has appointed WA Police Force Assistant Commissioner Paul Steel as the Independent Monitor for Crown Perth.
The news follows a Royal Commission report earlier this year which found that Crown was an unsuitable candidate to hold a casino and gaming license in Perth.
Alongside the appointment of an independent monitor, the reports also recommended a two-year period during which Crown would need top address any issues highlighted by the report and prove that it is suitable for an operator license.
Speaking of the appointment, Racing and Gaming Minister Tony Buti said:
“This is the latest step in the WA Government’s response to the Royal Commission and represents a new era of integrity, accountability and transparency at Perth’s Casino.
Paul Steel has a proven record of delivering great outcomes across a career of almost 30 years in law enforcement and criminal investigation, including in key leadership roles.
The purpose of the recent legislation and Independent Monitor is to restore integrity to the casino operator in Perth to ensure that it is operating in a first-class manner. That is what we require as a Government and that is what the community expects.
Appropriately, the taxpayer will not pay for this – the cost of the Independent Monitor will be recouped from the casino operator.”
Earlier this year, the Commission found that Crown Perth had facilitated money laundering at its casino and had failed to implement the correct anti-money laundering protocols.
Crown’s issues in Perth are just the latest in a string of license breaches the company has overseen throughout its Australian gambling businesses. In May, Crown Melbourne was fined a record AU$80 million for an illegal scheme that allowed Chinese high rollers to disguise money spent on gambling as hotel and entertainment charges. Meanwhile, its planned flagship casino in Sydney was only given the go ahead to open under strict licensing conditions following similar license breaches.
Image credit: Samuel Wiki / CC0 1.0
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.