Australia’s Federal Court has approved a settlement proposed by Crown Resorts and The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) that will see the casino operator pay AU$450 million (€275.3 million).
The deal was agreed following an investigation which uncovered serious AML failings at Crown’s Melbourne and Perth properties.
Reports initially suggested that Justice Michael Lee thought that the settlement amount was insufficient with respect to the seriousness and magnitude of the breaches. However, his final judgement approved the figure and Crown’s request to stagger the payment over the next two years.
According to the ruling Crown Melbourne will pay to the Commonwealth of Australia a penalty of AU$300 million (€183.5 million) and Crown Perth a penalty of AU$150 million (€91.8 million), comprising AU$450 million (€275.3 million) in total.
Justice Lee wrote in his judgement:
“The penal orders to be made reflect the serious and unacceptable nature of the contraventions and are appropriate to deter both repetition of contravening conduct by Crown or like contraventions by other reporting entities who may seek to prefer profit over proper risk management.
In particular, it will encourage casino license holders to ensure that their AML/CTF programmes, and the provision by them of designated services to customers, are appropriately calibrated to the ML/TF risk reasonably posed to the business.”
Crown Resorts CEO Ciarán Carruthers said in a statement following the decision:
“Under new ownership and leadership, we have introduced sweeping reforms as part of our Future Crown transformation program and invested tens of millions to bolster financial crime compliance and embed global best practice for the gaming sector.
There is no place for money laundering or terrorism financing at Crown or in our communities.”
The fines will be paid in three instalments. The first instalment of AU$125 million must be paid within the next 28 days and a further AU$125 million paid within 12 months. The remaining $200 million must be paid in full within the next two years while the company must also pay AU$3.4 million (€2.1 million) in costs.
The approval of the penalty means that the total fines issued for 2023 so far now exceed €325 million with almost €290 million (AU$474 million) of that figure issued by Australian regulators.
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.