{"id":188857,"date":"2021-10-13T04:25:57","date_gmt":"2021-10-13T11:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=188857"},"modified":"2021-10-13T13:02:49","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T20:02:49","slug":"star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Entertainment Exec Linked to Alleged $245M Corporate Fraud Fugitive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Star Sydney\u2019s senior vice president of VIP gaming was cozy with an alleged corporate fraudster who is now a fugitive from Australian justice, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Wu, pictured, was a high-profile property dealer in Australia through his company, iProsperity, until it collapsed in 2021, owing hundreds of millions. (Image: Australian Financial Review<\/em>)\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Herald<\/em> reports that Star\u2019s Mark Walker \u201cmaintained a secret and longstanding relationship\u201d with Michael Gu<\/a>, whose Sydney-based property group, iProsperity, collapsed last year, owing around <\/span>US$245 million<\/span> to investors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Star Entertainment is still reeling from a stock crash<\/a> that wiped almost $1 billion off its market value. That was in the wake of media allegations Sunday that it <\/span>enabled money laundering at its Sydney, Brisbane, and Gold Coast properties<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Gu has now fled the country, his whereabouts unknown. He is accused of personally misappropriating at least $21 million. That helped fund a collection of supercars: <\/span>two Lamborghinis, a\u00a0Rolls Royce Wraith, a Ferrari GTB, an Audi Q7, and a McLaren Spider, according to The Australian<\/em>. The rest of the time, he traveled by private jet and drank $3,000 bottles of wine, the newspaper has reported. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Hallmarks of Money Laundering\u2019<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n

According to insolvency firm Cor Cordis, which is attempting to trace the missing millions, someone at iProsperity wired A$8 million (US$5.9 million) to Crown Casino Melbourne between <\/span>August 2014 and May 2017.<\/span> This was later either withdrawn by Gu or used for gambling. It bore \u201call the hallmarks of money laundering,\u201d The Age<\/em> reported. <\/span><\/p>\n

These dates correspond with the period Walker worked for Crown as VP of Domestic Sales \u2013 Table Games. He left in 2017 to join Star and brought high-rolling Gu with him. That\u2019s according to \u201cmultiple\u201d Herald<\/em> sources with \u201cdeep knowledge of [Gu\u2019s] activities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gu and his iProsperity associate, Harry Huang, began gambling at the Star Sydney, wagering millions of dollars between 2018 and 2020. Gu even offered Walker a job during this time, the sources claim. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gu had ambitions to build his own gambling empire, which included a junket operation at the Star that would minimize his tax exposure, according to the sources. In 2018, Gu tried to buy the Casino Canberra from Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung<\/a>, a deal that ultimately fell through. At the time, the businessman was also eyeing a casino in Vanuatu in the South Pacific.<\/span><\/p>\n

Feeling the Heat<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n

Walker ultimately turned down the job offer but continued to advise Gu on his gambling-related dealings, according to the sources. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

There is no evidence that Walker knew of Gu\u2019s alleged criminal activities. But their alleged relationship could prove damaging for a company that has been accused of failing to properly vet its high rolling gamblers, some of whom are accused or have been convicted of serious crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

On Tuesday, regulators in Queensland said they would launch an investigation into Star regarding the recent media allegations. This comes after similar inquiries were announced in New South Wales, Western Australia, and Victoria.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Star Sydney\u2019s senior vice president of VIP gaming was cozy with an alleged corporate fraudster who is now a fugitive from Australian justice, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The Herald reports that Star\u2019s Mark Walker \u201cmaintained a secret and longstanding relationship\u201d with Michael Gu, whose Sydney-based property group, iProsperity, collapsed last year, owing around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":188858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStar Entertainment Exec Linked to Alleged $245M Corporate Fraudster<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michael Gu, alleged iPropserity fraudster, has been linked to Star Entertainment\u2019s VIP gaming VP Mark Walker by reports in Australian media.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Star Entertainment Exec Linked to Alleged $245M Corporate Fraudster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michael Gu, alleged iPropserity fraudster, has been linked to Star Entertainment\u2019s VIP gaming VP Mark Walker by reports in Australian media.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/\" \/>\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=\"2021-10-13T11:25:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-13T20:02:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/gu.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1025\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"642\" \/>\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\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/\",\"name\":\"Star Entertainment Exec Linked to Alleged $245M Corporate Fraudster\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/gu.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-13T11:25:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-13T20:02:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Michael Gu, alleged iPropserity fraudster, has been linked to Star Entertainment\u2019s VIP gaming VP Mark Walker by reports in Australian media.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-linked-to-alleged-245m-corporate-fraudster\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/gu.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/gu.jpg\",\"width\":1025,\"height\":642,\"caption\":\"Michael Wu, pictured, was a high-profile property dealer in Australia through his company iPosperity until it collapsed in 2021, owing hundreds of millions. 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