{"id":152636,"date":"2020-10-20T15:02:11","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T22:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=152636"},"modified":"2020-10-20T15:48:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T22:48:25","slug":"crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown Resorts Chair Admits AML Breaches, Claims \u2018Incompetence\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crown Resorts chair Helen Coonan told a licensing suitability investigation in Sydney on Tuesday that she accepted her company had facilitated money laundering. But she blamed it on \u201cineptitude\u201d rather than criminal intent.<\/p>\n

\"Crown
Helen Coonan was grilled about the company’s relationship with Suncity. (Image: The Australian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority has been examining whether the Australian casino giant should retain its Sydney license. The scrutiny comes in the face of press allegations of anti-money laundering breaches and criminal connections.<\/p>\n

The company expects to open a $2 billion casino resort on the Sydney waterfront at the end of the year, and a gambling license would seem to be an indispensable component of that plan.<\/p>\n

But Coonan was quizzed on Tuesday about Crown\u2019s relationship with Suncity, the world\u2019s biggest junket operator. That company’s CEO, Alvin Chau, has been barred entry to Australia over allegations he is or was a member of the 14K triads.<\/p>\n

AUSTRAC Interest in Suncity \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The counsel assisting the inquiry, Naomi Sharp SC, revealed that the Australian financial investigator, AUSTRAC, wrote to Crown Resorts in 2017 demanding to know why it was still doing business with Suncity. Chau was a \u201cforeign PEP\u201d (politically exposed person) with a \u201csubstantial\u201d criminal history, the investigator alleged.<\/p>\n

That revelation on Tuesday came 24 hours after Crown wrote to the Australian Securities Exchange to inform investors it was now under investigation<\/a> by AUSTRAC for potential violations of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.<\/p>\n

\n

Even after evidence emerged of money laundering by people connected with Suncity, Crown failed to shut down the junket operator\u2019s private VIP room at the Crown Melbourne.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Wasn\u2019t all this a \u201cquintessential example of Crown Resorts turning a blind eye to the prospects of money laundering occurring at its casino?\u201d Sharp demanded to know.<\/p>\n

It may have been ineptitude or a lack of attention. I don\u2019t think it was deliberately turning a blind eye. I do think that\u2019s a different adjectival conclusion,\u201d replied Coonan, as reported by The Guardian.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Everyone Loses <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Patricia Bergin, the former Supreme Court judge chairing the inquiry, said ineptitude wasn\u2019t good enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community loses because you\u2019ve got money laundering in your casino \u2026 and Crown loses because it\u2019s seen as an inept company lacking in attention,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the bystander could reasonably conclude that this conglomerate of ineptitude, lack of attention, and failing to intervene facilitated money laundering. Would you not agree with that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Coonan said yes.<\/p>\n

Crown holds its annual general meeting on Thursday, and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), an organization that advises the nation\u2019s largest pension funds, has advised shareholders vote out three directors whose positions are up for renewal.<\/p>\n

ACSI accuses the board of bad corporate governance and believes a shakeup is much needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crown Resorts chair Helen Coonan told a licensing suitability investigation in Sydney on Tuesday that she accepted her company had facilitated money laundering. But she blamed it on \u201cineptitude\u201d rather than criminal intent. The New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority has been examining whether the Australian casino giant should retain its Sydney license. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":152653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCrown Resorts Chair Admits AML Breaches, Claims \u2018Incompetence\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crown Resorts chairwoman admits facilitating money laundering, AUSTRAC quizzed company about junket Suncity.\" \/>\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=\"Crown Resorts Chair Admits AML Breaches, Claims \u2018Incompetence\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crown Resorts chairwoman admits facilitating money laundering, AUSTRAC quizzed company about junket Suncity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/\" \/>\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=\"2020-10-20T22:02:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-20T22:48:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/coonan1.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\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/\",\"name\":\"Crown Resorts Chair Admits AML Breaches, Claims \u2018Incompetence\u2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/coonan1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-20T22:02:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-20T22:48:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Crown Resorts chairwoman admits facilitating money laundering, AUSTRAC quizzed company about junket Suncity.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-chair-admits-aml-breaches-claims-incompetence\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/coonan1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/coonan1.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Helen Coonan was grilled about the company's relationship with Suncity. 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