Australia’s Star Entertainment fined US$183m for AML breaches
The case concerns compliance failures spanning six years, including transactions involving high-risk gamblers and third parties whose identities were not recorded.
Australia.- Australia’s Federal Court has fined The Star Entertainment Group AU$260m (US$183m) for failing to meet anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements at its Sydney and Gold Coast casinos. In a judgment delivered on October 28, Justice Cameron Moore imposed penalties of AU$195m (US$137.3m) on The Star Sydney and AU$65m (US$45.8m) on The Star Queensland following civil proceedings brought by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) in 2022.
The court found that the casino operator failed to maintain an adequate compliance programme, verify the sources of customers’ funds and properly monitor transactions involving high-risk gamblers. The breaches covered the period from November 2016 to November 2022. More than 1,200 customers were able to gamble through channels that exposed the casinos to money-laundering risks, including transactions involving unidentified third parties.
Justice Moore said the company had continued to accept money despite evidence suggesting that some funds were linked to criminal activity. He also found that the failures undermined the ability of AUSTRAC and law enforcement agencies to trace funds and investigate potential criminal activity.
The judgment cited more than AU$1.4bn (US$986.2m) in revenue from junket operations and about AU$1.33bn (US$936.9m) in revenue from high-risk customers during the relevant period. The court said the figures demonstrated the scale of revenue generated through these activities.
AUSTRAC had sought a AU$400m (US$281.5m) penalty, while Star argued for a AU$100m (US$70.4m) fine, warning that a larger amount could threaten its survival. In determining the penalty, Justice Moore considered the seriousness of the violations alongside the company’s financial position, previous regulatory penalties and compliance improvements. Star had already incurred AU$200m (US$140.8m) in penalties for related regulatory breaches, while its casino licences had been suspended and the business placed under regulatory supervision.
The court ordered the AU$260m penalty to be paid in four instalments over 19 months. AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas said the ruling reflected the seriousness of Star’s failures and reinforced gambling operators’ obligations to prevent financial crime.
The penalty comes as The Star released its first-quarter FY27 results, revealing group EBITDA of AU$12m (US$8.5m), compared with a loss of AU$13m (US$9.2m) a year earlier.
