By Savyata Mishra
(Reuters) -Australia’s securities regulator started civil proceedings in the Federal Court against 11 current and former directors of casino operator Star Entertainment Group Ltd for alleged shortcomings related to the risk of money laundering.
The lawsuit is the first against the casino industry since reports of poor governance emerged in 2019, and the first one yet targeting board members.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) claims involve Star Entertainment’s board members between 2017 and 2019, including its former chairman, chief executive and general counsel.
The ASIC on Tuesday alleged Star Entertainment’s board and executives “failed to give sufficient focus to the risk of money laundering and criminal associations”.
“Star and its subsidiaries are not parties to the proceedings,” Star Entertainment said on Tuesday.
ASIC also claimed that the group’s general counsel and former finance chief “knowingly permitted misleading statements” being provided to National Australia Bank, disguising the fact that Star was permitting the use of China UnionPay cards, in violation of anti-money laundering laws which prohibit gambling funds to be withdrawn using credit or debit cards.
Australia’s gambling industry has been under the regulatory scanner in recent years, with public inquiries lashing its biggest casino operators due to lapses in money laundering protections.
Last week, the Queensland government slapped penalties totalling A$100 million ($67.45 million) on Star Entertainment and deferred the suspension of its casino licences for a year to monitor operations in the state.
($1 = 1.4826 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru and Byron Kaye in Sydney; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Shounak Dasgupta, and Uttaresh.V)
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