{"id":118038,"date":"2019-10-23T13:27:08","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T20:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=118038"},"modified":"2019-10-23T13:50:26","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T20:50:26","slug":"australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown Resorts on Trial: Australian Federal Officials to Testify in Corruption Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s anti-corruption watchdog is to quiz current and former federal government officials at a series of public hearings next week as part of its investigation into the \u201cvisas for high rollers<\/a>\u201d scandal involving Crown Resorts.<\/p>\n

\"Crown
Former Australian Border Force commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg has accused Crown Resorts of conspiring with government officials to fast-track high rollers into the country. (Image: The Australian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among them will be Roman Quaedvlieg, a former Australian Border Force commissioner who was fired from his position last year for corruption unrelated to the Crown probe.<\/p>\n

Quaedvlieg has alleged in interviews with Australian media that he was lobbied by senior lawmakers to \u201csmooth out\u201d border security processes for Crown\u2019s VIP players, so they could \u201cland on a private jet at Melbourne airport, receive the\u00a0minimal amount of clearances, put them in cars, get them into the\u00a0casino and spending money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arms Dealer Blew $6 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> and the Nine network\u2019s 60 Minutes<\/em> program have accused Crown Resorts of having untoward relationships with triad-affiliated junket operators, and of spiriting Chinese criminals into the country via visa loopholes.<\/p>\n

One such high roller may have been the Indonesian businessman Joseph Wong Kiia Tai<\/a>, who the United Nations has accused of dealing arms to former Liberian despot Charles Taylor.<\/p>\n

According to documents seen by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Kiia Tai was allowed to lose over A$6 million ($4.1 million) at Crown\u2019s Melbourne and Perth properties, despite being the subject of UN sanctions at the time, which included a travel ban.<\/p>\n

\u2018Mr Chinatown\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has said it had an agreement with Crown to \u201cfacilitate quick visa processing of short-stay visas,\u201d as it did with many companies that were major contributors to the Australian economy.<\/p>\n

But the watchdog, the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI), is looking into whether anyone at the DHA or the Australian Border Force conspired with Crown Resorts to fast-track criminals into the country.<\/p>\n

\n

It will also examine how Border Force official Andrew Ure came to be moonlighting as a bodyguard to a wealthy junket operator called Tom Zhou \u2013 known as \u201cMr. Chinatown\u201d — who worked with Crown Resorts and is wanted by Interpol for serious criminal conduct.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Zhou has been charged by Chinese authorities with major corporate fraud, and is mentioned in civil cases in China as having used extortion and violence against business associates.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Crown Resorts claims the media reports are \u201csensationalized\u201d and \u201cdeceitful,\u201d and has said the public hearings will be a chance to offer its perspective.<\/p>\n

Crown notes that junket operators are independent third parties that deal with the casino industry across the world, not just Crown properties. The company said it complies with global anti-money laundering directives and denied that it has ever \u201csought to circumvent visa requirements or compromise any process of identification or verification for immigration purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s anti-corruption watchdog is to quiz current and former federal government officials at a series of public hearings next week as part of its investigation into the \u201cvisas for high rollers\u201d scandal involving Crown Resorts. Among them will be Roman Quaedvlieg, a former Australian Border Force commissioner who was fired from his position last year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":118042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralian Federal Officials to Testify in Crown Resorts Graft Investigation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crown Resorts visa investigation by Australian anti-corruption watchdog will quiz senior government officials during public hearings next week.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australian Federal Officials to Testify in Crown Resorts Graft Investigation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crown Resorts visa investigation by Australian anti-corruption watchdog will quiz senior government officials during public hearings next week.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-23T20:27:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-23T20:50:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Roman.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/\",\"name\":\"Australian Federal Officials to Testify in Crown Resorts Graft Investigation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Roman.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-23T20:27:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-23T20:50:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Crown Resorts visa investigation by Australian anti-corruption watchdog will quiz senior government officials during public hearings next week.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/australian-federal-officials-to-testify-in-crown-resorts-graft-investigation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Roman.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Roman.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Former Australian Border Force commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg has accused Crown Resorts of conspiring with government officials to fast-track high-rollers into the country. 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