Star Casino Sydney ATM’s Give Out AU$3.2m In Free Money
Due to a malfunction, four ATMs at the Star Casino in Sydney gave out free money for more than two weeks. Dozens of people took advantage of the glitch and ended up taking AU$3.2 million (NZ$ 3,48m) by the time the casino noticed the error. The people who withdrew money from the machines have been charged with fraud.
On Thursday, The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that four ATMs, also known as “ticket in, cash out” machines, at the Star Casino in Sydney had been giving out free money to players for more than two weeks due to a malfunction. By the time the casino discovered the glitch, more than NZ$2,179 (AU$3.2 million) was stolen by dozens of visitors, including gambling addicts, homeless people, and criminals.
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Malfunction Lets ATM’s Hand Out Free Money
At the special ATMs in the casino, players can convert their winnings into cash with the barcode on their voucher. To limit the risk of money laundering, there is a maximum of AU$2,000 (NZ$2,179). Players who want larger payouts are required to go to the cashier.
The local newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald spoke to Thanh Lan Le, one of the visitors who took advantage of the outage at Star Casino Sydney. Le said she was still recovering from a gambling addiction when she met a friend at The Star, with no intention of visiting the gaming floor. During her visit, a friend however, pointed out the malfunction at the ATMs.
He inserted a voucher into the machine to obtain his winnings, but when he inserted a second ticket into the machine, he received another AU$2,000. The glitch meant that when a player inserted more than one voucher into the machine, one of the vouchers was returned and could be used again as a consequence. Le ended up visiting the failing ATM’s 34 times in ten days for a total of AU$57,265 (NZ$ 62,419), most of which she lost gambling.
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43 Visitors Prosecuted By Star Sydney
Research has revealed that 43 people withdrew a total amount of AU$3,219,420 (NZ$ 3,509,102.69) in 13 days. The group of people has been charged by the casino because they allegedly stole the money. Le has pleaded guilty, and has offered to repay the money. However, her lawyer Natalija Nikolic blames the casino.
“They operate a system that appears to have little regard for the Australian licensing standards. They gave away AU$3 million and were not aware of the glitch making this system extremely vulnerable for money launderers. In our opinion, the greatest offence was committed by Star Sydney for having such a negligent policy in place.”
Lawyer Natalija Nikolic
Star Casino Sydney has not commented as the matter is pending in court.
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Possible closure of Star Casino Sydney
The Star Casino in Sydney was informed at the end of 2023 that it must prove within six months that it successfully restructured its organisation. The gambling operator risks losing its licence in Australia. The Australian gambling company’s licence has currently been provisionally suspended due to a range of violations. The casino was allowed to remain open under the administration of the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) whereas further checks will need to decide whether the gambling operator may continue its operations.
Third party research revealed extensive anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism deficiencies. One of the most striking cases that was highlighted in the report was that of a Chinese billionaire who was able to deposit AU$1.7 billion (NZ$ 1,85b) into the casino over an eight-year period, without any questions about his source of income. The Australian casino received a record fine of AU$100 million (NZ$ 109) for its lacking banking policy.
The gambling company also came under fire when Star admitted its casinos in Brisbane and Gold Coast accepted credit card payments for chips. According to the Australian gambling law, casinos are not allowed to accept credit card payments for their chips. In addition, Star fell victim to an ex-director who stole AU$13.3 million (NZ$ 14,49m) in 2020.
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