Victoria’s Royal Commission has highlighted failures in Crown Resorts’ responsible gambling programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Australia.- On a new day of public hearings held by Victoria\u2019s Royal Commission\u00a0into Crown Resorts, Adrian Finanzio<\/strong>, counsel assisting the inquiry, said\u00a0Crown had not correctly implemented<\/strong><\/strong> its responsible gambling program<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finanzio said Crown Resorts had the resources to limit the harm caused by gambling addiction<\/strong>\u00a0but that it’s programme had been inefficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonja Bauer<\/strong>, Crown\u2019s general manager of responsible gaming,\u00a0admitted failures\u00a0<\/strong>and sent a letter stating the casino operator had resolved to implement a series of changes to the programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Finanzio said the\u00a0proposed changes should have been implemented a long time ago<\/strong>, arguing: \u201cThe letter promises to stop things which, on one view, should never have been happening in the first place.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finanzio believes\u00a0Bauer’s letter is an implied admission that some of Crown\u2019s practices were inconsistent<\/strong>\u00a0with its responsible gambling programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said there is evidence that\u00a0people at Crown Resorts were three times more likely to experience gambling harm\u00a0<\/strong>than those who gambled elsewhere<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Crown Resorts said it would increase the number of\u00a0responsible gaming advisers (RGAs) at Crown Melbourne from 12 to 17<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Crown currently has\u00a0one RGA on duty for every 870 poker machines<\/strong>. Victorian pubs and clubs are ordered to have one RGA for every 105 machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Victoria\u2019s Royal Commissioner, former Federal Court judge Raymond Finkelstein<\/strong>, who is currently carrying out an inquiry into Crown will continue its public hearings until June 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week,\u00a0Deloitte partner Lisa Dobbin<\/a>\u00a0said there had been\u00a0suspicious transactions potentially linked to money laundering\u00a0<\/strong>at Crown up\u00a0until at least February of this year<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n A preliminary report suggested a large sum of money had been divided across 14 accounts <\/strong>to avoid the AU$10,000 disclosure threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deloitte is also focusing on so-called patron accounts<\/strong>, used by Crown Resorts to allow customers to deposit money for use at casinos. It says these accounts could potentially be used for money laundering<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dobbin said the audit is in its preliminary stages<\/strong>. A final report is expected by August<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crown Resorts is also seeking to introduce cashless gaming<\/a>. The proposal was supported by Nick Stokes<\/strong>, Crown\u2019s anti-money laundering manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stokes stated: \u201cI think from an anti-money laundering perspective it would help us considerably. Being able to track all transactions above a certain threshold<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n