VCGLR orders Crown Melbourne to pay AU$1m

The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation has fined Crown Melbourne AU$1m (US$724,130) for failing to comply with regulatory requirements concerning junket operations.

Australia.- Crown Melbourne has been fined AU$1m (US$724,130) by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) for disobeying a direction and failing to comply with regulatory requirements regarding junkets.

The VCGLR says it assessed Crown’s conduct regarding an individual junket operator and his associates, including actions taken after the commission ordered it to end its relationship with the individual. The regulator concluded that Crown had failed to end its relationship with an unsuitable junket operator, failed to conduct adequate due diligence concerning an associate of the same junket operator and had permitted that associate to conduct junkets.

The VCGLR also said that Crown Melbourne failed to notify the commission of the associate, as a new non-resident junket operator before the commencement of her junket program.

VCGLR Chair Ross Kennedy said: “The amount of this fine reflects the seriousness of this matter, particularly Crown’s conduct in failing to immediately implement the requirements of the Commission’s direction to cease a relationship with an unsuitable junket operator.”

Crown’s chief executive officer Steve McCann said: “Crown will consider the findings of the VCGLR carefully, to continue to advance its reform agenda and take into consideration all available learnings. 

“Crown was the first Australian casino group to announce the cessation of dealings with junkets. The announcement today from the VCGLR is a reflection of past practices which no longer occur at Crown.” 

In May, Crown Melbourne was also fined AU$22.5m (US$17.3m) by the ILGA following its inquiry into the casino operator. The company had previously been fined AU$1m (US$777,305) for not properly analysing foreign high rollers and their junket operators.