Crown Resorts Fined Again: NZ $32 million
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) has imposed a new fine on Crown Resorts. The Australian land-based casino operator must pay an amount of AU$30 million (NZ$32 million). The company was fined for violating bank draft rules.
The VGCCC announced that Crown Resorts had been fined again. The company allegedly violated the rules regarding bank checks. As a result, Crown Resorts must pay an amount of AU$ 30 million (NZ$ 32 million).
An investigation revealed that the Crown Casino in Melbourne allowed its customers to gamble with bank checks issued to themselves. This happened before the checks were cashed. The Casino Control Act 1991 prohibits the use of checks in the casinos in most situations.
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Protecting Players is Paramount
The ban, according to the VGCC, is intended to prevent lending to gamblers, or money laundering. As a result, the committee decided to impose a new fine on the casino company:
“The Commission has decided to take disciplinary action and fine Crown AU$30 million for the bank draft practice. This was a serious violation because it was undocumented, took a long time and undermined the important controls on the use of checks in the casino.” The VGCCC was also concerned by the Royal Commission’s findings that Crown was likely to have accepted blank checks in exchange for gambling chips. It was suggested at the Royal Commission that this practice involved Crown writing the amount of a customer’s debt on the blank check after the customer had finished gambling.”
VGCCC
After extensive investigation, the VGCCC came to the conclusion that the latter practice, in which the Crown exchanged blank checks for gambling chips, could not be proven. Therefore, the committee has given the casino three tasks it will need to comply:
- Ban the banking and blank check practices at the casino Melbourne.
- Demand an internal review of Crown’s current policies and procedures for accepting bank drafts.
- Investigate all other undocumented practices at the Melbourne casino.
VGCCC President Fran Thorn commented as follows:
“This is the second time we have taken action against undocumented practices at the casino, and we will investigate further to ensure there are no more. To be clear, we will not allow the casino to hide its practices to avoid an investigation. Practices such as accepting bank drafts expose Crown to the risk of money laundering, put customers at risk of gambling-related harm, and jeopardise our ability to ensure that the casino operates with integrity, safety and fairness.”
Fran Thorn, VGCCC
Third fine for Crown Resorts
Crown Resorts has been in the news more often in recent years due to misconduct. The problems at Crown Resorts started three years ago when the casino’s licence was in jeopardy after research into accusations of facilitating junkets at the resort. Last year, the company was fined AU$ 80 million (NZ$ 86 million) for accepting China UnionPay cards. The transactions were falsely categorised as hotel services. This fine made sure that Crown Resorts was stripped of the revenue derived from the process. In November last year, Crown Melbourne was fined a record AU$120 million (NZ$ 129 million) because the casino had failed to comply with its obligations regarding responsible gambling.
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About Crown Resorts
Crown Resorts Ltd is the biggest gaming and entertainment group of Australia and owns different gambling and entertainment venues in Australia, including the land based casinos Crown Melbourne, Crown Sydney, and Crown Perth. The gambling company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange until it was acquired by Blackstone in June 2022. The headquarters of the Australian casino group is in Melbourne. The company was founded in 2007.
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