Crown Casino Resort in Australia Suspected of Money Laundering
Crown Resorts Ltd has been serving a two-year suspension since December 2020 after a government inquiry found it unfit to hold a gaming license. The Australian casino operator suffered the drawback after Perth Royal Gambling Commission finalized its report on Crown Casino’s operations. The commission’s lead commissioner, Lead Owen, presented the verdict on a 994-page report indicating how Crown Resorts Ltd facilitated money laundering in its Perth and Melbourne casinos.
The suspension severely harmed crown Casinos and its stakeholders. The worst hit was Australian billionaire James Packer, who founded the gambling company and owned a 36% stake. Packer and other shareholders are counting their losses following the company’s sharp decline from $9.8 billion in 2014 to roughly half its current value. The news also sent the CEO, Ken Barton, packing after he resigned following the shocking verdict. Despite this, the investigation revealed the complexities that plague the relationship between the government and casino operators amid the seemingly endless money-laundering issue in casinos. It also highlights that any modern gambling enterprise like Crown Casino must update its security.
The Gambling Industry’s Money Laundering Headache
Crown Casino was found guilty of failure and inability to stop money laundering by an investigation led by industry experts. Its findings confirmed the government’s suspicions about criminal activity taking place on the premises of casino operators. Failure to stop money laundering and other illegal activities resulted in a two-year suspension of the WA Gambling license.
The government’s suspicions and subsequent actions, however, are not misguided. Casinos are often associated with money laundering. Money laundering cases in the gambling industry continue to emerge as governments continue to crack down on the vice.
Gambling attracts criminals due to the unique conditions it provides. Criminals convert money into chips at land-based casinos, which are then cashed out after a short period of time. The winner is given proof of victory, which they use to hide the excesses they later receive. Most deposit large sums of money, place a few bets, and then withdraw the funds as legitimately earned on the casino floor. There are, however, a variety of other methods for laundering funds, including the use of online casinos. The possibility of winning absurdly large sums makes it easier for criminals to justify large sums of money.
Cleaning up Casinos
The government is constantly trying to crack down on criminals and their money-laundering methods in modern casinos, particularly in Australia, but it is never easy. An excellent illustration of this is the case of the Las Vegas Strip created by Bugsy Siegel, a notorious mobster. It was not a cheap venture to save the boulevard from criminal hypnosis, and even decades later, the casino industry is still battling illegal activity.
Crown Resorts, a modern-day casino company, has been on the government’s radar for some time now. The investigation stems from allegations of non-compliance with anti-money laundering regulations year after year. Since its inception, this cat-and-mouse game has plagued gambling establishments and does not appear to be going away anytime soon.
The growing number of money laundering cases in casinos calls for increased vigilance for those in charge. Governments must create an enabling environment for casinos to protect themselves from organized crime exploitation. Government agencies must demand that they follow specific ground rules designed to protect the casino industry’s integrity.
On the other hand, staying risk-free is not as simple as it sounds. By definition, casinos are magnets for criminal and unethical behavior, but it also goes two ways. Some casinos cannot afford to forego the added benefits of harboring criminals. For them, the profits are too significant to pass up. The resulting taxes from casino operations, on the other hand, are often excessively high, providing an additional incentive for such operators to work with dirty money.
The Never-ending Casino Cleanup Process
While authorities work to reduce money laundering in casinos, fraudulent casino operators increase their incentives to facilitate corruption. When such officials are tempted by the benefits of turning a blind eye, a sickening gray area emerges. The recent case of Crown Resorts exemplifies this rat race. Following accusations of enabling and facilitating money laundering, the company’s casinos in Melbourne and Perth were evaluated to see if they should remain open. Commissioner Patricia Bergin’s investigation revealed a mix of morality and delinquency in the casino cleaning industry. She states in her report “Any applicant for a casino license with the attributes of Crown’s stark realities of facilitating money laundering, exposing staff to the risk of detention in a foreign jurisdiction and pursuing commercial relationships with individuals with connections to .. organized crime groups would not be confident of a positive outcome. It is obvious that such attributes would render an applicant quite unsuitable to hold a casino license in New South Wales.”
To eliminate the gray area, a concerted effort is required. It entails constantly monitoring casino activities, ensuring the integrity of internal casino procedures, and forfeiting money laundering profits. Only then will the never-ending process of turning the casino into a profitable venture bear fruit. Failure to do so equates to aiding and abetting money laundering and other related evils. If the casino industry is to gain a reputation for integrity in the near future, all governments must take stern action, as exemplified by Australia.
