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Victoria’s royal commission into Crown is yet to hear from the company regarding whether it has committed any breaches of the state’s law. The inquiry’s chair, former Federal Court judge Raymond Finkelstein QC, told an opening hearing on Wednesday he had written two letters to Crown Resorts and its subsidiaries ahead of proceedings. In the first, Mr Finkelstein asked whether the company accepted the findings of a NSW judicial inquiry, released in February this year. That inquiry, headed by former Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin, found Crown was unfit to run a casino at its newly built Barangaroo complex in Sydney. It also found the company facilitated money laundering at its Melbourne and Perth casinos, dealt with junket operators it knew were involved in organised crime and put staff in China in danger of being detained. Mr Finkelstein said Crown’s response was “a little equivocal”. The company conceded it was not suitable to run the Barangaroo casino but did not accept “the wilfulness or deliberateness of the conduct concerned”. He said Crown believed it was suitable to run its Melbourne casino due to a “substantial reform program” in the wake of the NSW inquiry. “The outcome of this inquiry may well depend on the effectiveness of this program,” Mr Finklestein noted. In the second letter to Crown, he asked “in plain terms” whether the company had breached any obligations, “whether imposed by statute, regulation, contract or otherwise” while running its Melbourne casino. He is yet to receive a reply from the company and warned “delays will not be tolerated”. “The response to the second letter will tell me a number of things,” Mr Finklestein said. “The first and most crucial is that I can find out if there have been any breaches, whether the Crown companies have systems in place that enable them to identify those breaches. “If they don’t have the required systems that may have consequences.” Mr Finklestein said he would adopt the findings of Ms Bergin’s inquiry’s where appropriate as it was not in the public’s interest “to conduct two inquiries into the same subject matter” His $10 million royal commission will investigate whether money laundering is still taking place at Crown’s Melbourne casino and whether the company has broken the law or its contact with the state government. He will also look at how the company deals with gambling addiction. Mr Finkelstein said more than 300,000 Australians are problem gamblers, accounting for a third of the total gambling expenditure – about $3.5 billion annually. He said casinos also attract “significant criminal activity”, including petty crime within the venue, street crime outside, money laundering and the “infiltration of organised crime syndicates”. But he also noted the gambling industry has “significant benefits”, including that it employs people and accounts for about 12 per cent of tax revenue in Victoria. Premier Daniel Andrews has previously stated Crown was the largest private-sector employer in the state. The first public hearings are expected to begin within weeks, with Mr Finkelstein required to report back to the government with recommendations by August 1. Mr Andrews, who is currently on leave after injuring his spine in a fall, has indicated he is prepared to tear up Crown’s casino licence if it is recommended. The WA government has announced its own inquiry into the allegations relating to the Perth casino. Six of Crown’s directors resigned in the wake of the NSW inquiry, with former federal government minister Helen Coonan currently running the company as executive chair. On Tuesday the company received a takeover offer from US investment fund Blackstone, which already owns 10 per cent of the company. James Packer is currently the majority shareholder, with a 37 per cent stake in Crown Resorts. Australian Associated Press
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Victoria’s royal commission into Crown is yet to hear from the company regarding whether it has committed any breaches of the state’s law.
The inquiry’s chair, former Federal Court judge Raymond Finkelstein QC, told an opening hearing on Wednesday he had written two letters to Crown Resorts and its subsidiaries ahead of proceedings.
In the first, Mr Finkelstein asked whether the company accepted the findings of a NSW judicial inquiry, released in February this year.
That inquiry, headed by former Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin, found Crown was unfit to run a casino at its newly built Barangaroo complex in Sydney.
It also found the company facilitated money laundering at its Melbourne and Perth casinos, dealt with junket operators it knew were involved in organised crime and put staff in China in danger of being detained.
Mr Finkelstein said Crown’s response was “a little equivocal”.
The company conceded it was not suitable to run the Barangaroo casino but did not accept “the wilfulness or deliberateness of the conduct concerned”.
He said Crown believed it was suitable to run its Melbourne casino due to a “substantial reform program” in the wake of the NSW inquiry.
“The outcome of this inquiry may well depend on the effectiveness of this program,” Mr Finklestein noted.
In the second letter to Crown, he asked “in plain terms” whether the company had breached any obligations, “whether imposed by statute, regulation, contract or otherwise” while running its Melbourne casino.
He is yet to receive a reply from the company and warned “delays will not be tolerated”.
“The response to the second letter will tell me a number of things,” Mr Finklestein said.
“The first and most crucial is that I can find out if there have been any breaches, whether the Crown companies have systems in place that enable them to identify those breaches.
“If they don’t have the required systems that may have consequences.”
Mr Finklestein said he would adopt the findings of Ms Bergin’s inquiry’s where appropriate as it was not in the public’s interest “to conduct two inquiries into the same subject matter”
His $10 million royal commission will investigate whether money laundering is still taking place at Crown’s Melbourne casino and whether the company has broken the law or its contact with the state government.
He will also look at how the company deals with gambling addiction.
Mr Finkelstein said more than 300,000 Australians are problem gamblers, accounting for a third of the total gambling expenditure – about $3.5 billion annually.
He said casinos also attract “significant criminal activity”, including petty crime within the venue, street crime outside, money laundering and the “infiltration of organised crime syndicates”.
But he also noted the gambling industry has “significant benefits”, including that it employs people and accounts for about 12 per cent of tax revenue in Victoria.
Premier Daniel Andrews has previously stated Crown was the largest private-sector employer in the state.
The first public hearings are expected to begin within weeks, with Mr Finkelstein required to report back to the government with recommendations by August 1.
Mr Andrews, who is currently on leave after injuring his spine in a fall, has indicated he is prepared to tear up Crown’s casino licence if it is recommended.
The WA government has announced its own inquiry into the allegations relating to the Perth casino.
Six of Crown’s directors resigned in the wake of the NSW inquiry, with former federal government minister Helen Coonan currently running the company as executive chair.
On Tuesday the company received a takeover offer from US investment fund Blackstone, which already owns 10 per cent of the company.
James Packer is currently the majority shareholder, with a 37 per cent stake in Crown Resorts.
Australian Associated Press
