One of the largest casino groups in Australia, Crown Casinos, and its Perth subsidiary is facing a two-year suspension for not operating legally and putting their customer’s funds in danger!
The news was announced right after the lead commissioner of the Perth Royal Gambling Commission, Lead Owen, filed a 994 pages report on Crown Casino’s illegal activities.
The report states that the Australian casino, Crown Perth, has been indulging in money laundering, permitting junkets and facilitating criminal activities.
Find out more about this issue and how Crown Casinos can avoid these kinds of problems in the future!
Perth Crown Casino Is Given Two Years to Clean Up Its Mess
On 24 March, the Perth Royal Gambling Commission stated in their report that one of Crown Casinos' subsidiaries in Perth has been indulging in illegal activities.
These activities include money laundering, permitting junkets, facilitating criminal activities, and other suspicious acts.
The Perth Royal Gambling Commission revoked the WA Gambling License from Crown Perth for a two-year period. And the only way to be audited and licensed again is if they upgrade its securities.
As we can see, most of the rules that apply to land-based casinos, resorts, and their subsidiaries were breached. Now, let’s see where Perth Crown Casino failed and what’s due to be changed.
How Did Perth Crown Casino Become an Unsafe Australian Casino?
Alongside money laundering, the famous Australian casino was also found unfit to manage its transactions and provide Aussie players with consistent gambling prevention measures.
Furthermore, the casino didn’t manage to implement random number generators for their games, which guarantee the fair treatment of its customers.
The authorities have now given Perth Crown Casino two years to improve its security before it becomes eligible to provide its services again to Aussie players.
Reports of Crown Casino Abusing Its Privileges & What The Casino Management Answered
As you can imagine, it isn’t easy to hold a gambling license in Western Australia. Even though they have had it for 11 years, the WA Racing and Gaming Authorities revoked Perth Crown Casino’s license on charges of abusing it - for imposing double standards, unfair play, and inconsistent measures.
The report of the Perth Royal Gambling Commission also stated that, as an Australian Casino, Crown had poor communication with the regulatory bodies. Moreover, they weren’t transparent nor found themselves accountable for their actions.
However, the management promised to improve its practices and guarantee its customers a safe gaming adventure with objective winning chances. And this is a working practice that a secure online casino, as well as a brick-and-mortar one, must follow.
Now, Crown Casino’s management has promised a complete future commitment to correct its practices and avoid putting at risk its 5,000 employees.
Subsidiaries Facilitating Money Laundering
This is one of the more serious charges that the court has pressed against Crown Perth and its subsidiaries. It’s valid not only for Perth Crown Casinos but also for the ones in Victoria and NSW.
The newest reports stated that the subsidiaries in Melbourne were also indulged in illegal activities and could face fines of up to $100,000 in fines. These activities took place in the same period from 2012 to 2016, when the Perth Crown Casino started with its illegal practices.
Nevertheless, Crown Casinos was allowed to proceed with its operations in other parts of Australia, but under strict regulation and monitoring of the authorities.
The Money-Laundering Scheme - How it All Happened?
The report stated that Crown Perth was conducting its money laundering activities through the ANZ RiverBank.
It’s stated that the money-laundering between Crown Perth and ANZ River happened between 2013 and 2014. However, this wasn’t the only bank responsible for supporting Crown Casinos’ illegal activities.
Another bank was also involved - the CBA RiverBank - in a time frame from 2014 to 2019. The Bergin Inquiry in New South Wales stated that millions of dollars had likely been laundered between these two banks and Crown Perth Casino.
The Crown Perth Casino’s Junkets
The report also states that there were 7 junkets (of Crown Perth’s operators) in 2019.
These allegations were signalled to the Gaming and Wagering Commission of West Australia, but it seems as if the Commission had turned a blind eye. In the end, in one of the case studies in the report, authorities found out that executives had Christmast launches at Crown Perth, and they were also honoured with expensive champagnes and exclusive meals.
On top of that, in 2013, individuals like GWC’s director, Mr Seargant, organised trips to Macau to meet with VIP gamblers and stimulate them to invest their money in Crown Perth.
Nonetheless, this was the initiation of the Bergin Inquiry in New South Wales, which eventually led to the discovery of money laundering activities.
How Can They Guarantee to Upgrade Its Security and Become A More Responsible Australian Casino?
WA’s Gaming and Wagering Commission, as well as the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, provided 59 recommendations for improvement.
Steve McCan, the executive director of Crown Casinos, has promised to work closely with the state government and authorities. Furthermore, he stated that transparency and an open communication policy would be the top priority of this Australian casino.
McCan additionally emphasised that more than 5,000 people work in Crown Casinos, including Perth Crown, and that they’ll do everything to keep their job positions safe and for their employees to be satisfied with their jobs.
That’s why, in the following two years, the casino promised to make significant investments in its employees, services, security systems, and anti-gambling policies.
Our Final Thoughts on Australian Casino Security & Crown Perth
As we can see, Perth Crown Casino is not an isolated case, and all Crown Casinos will be under strict monitoring of Australian gambling authorities. The organisation is expected to meet all the security requirements and become eligible to offer its services to Perth players by 2024! Or at least, it’s what they have promised to do.
Due to all this, we find online casinos like Ozwin Casino, FairGo, Ripper, and Ignition Casino to be much safer than land-based ones. For instance, online casinos must have RNG (random number generators to acquire a gambling license and be certified by eCogra. And this is just the beginning of the rules that Internet gambling sites must follow.
Money laundering, junkets, and suspicious connections rarely happen with Australian online casinos.
