Star Entertainment Could Be Wiped Out by Proposed $400M Fine
Posted on: June 5, 2025, 02:33h.
Last updated on: June 5, 2025, 02:33h.
- AUSTRAC demands record fine for systemic AML violations.
- Star risks collapse despite recent $300M emergency bailout.
- Casino linked to triads, junkets, and disguised spending.
Australia’s financial crimes watchdog AUSTRAC wants to put Star Entertainment out of business.
The agency is asking a federal court to impose a AU$400 million (US$260 million) fine on the troubled casino operator, which in April accepted a AU$300 million (US$195 million) bailout package from Bally’s Corp. and Aussie pub and slots mogul Bruce Mathieson.
AUSTRAC brought civil penalty proceedings against the company in November 2022 for alleged breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing laws.
Criminal Gangs
Star’s Sydney license has been suspended since 2022 when a regulatory inquiry concluded it had allowed itself to be used by criminal gangs to launder money in private high-roller junket rooms.
The Bally’s-led bailout came on the very day cash-strapped Star was predicted to run out of money completely as it struggled with a dire liquidity crunch.
Star’s Sydney license has been suspended since 2022 when a regulatory inquiry concluded it had allowed itself to be used by criminal gangs to launder money in private high-roller junket rooms.
The operator also fraudulently permitted Chinese high rollers to withdraw a total of AU$900 million (US$586 million) for gambling using China UnionPay (CUP) credit cards while disguising these transactions as “hotel expenses.”
During a Federal Court hearing on Wednesday, Simon White SC, representing AUSTRAC, argued that a AU$400 million penalty would be justified considering the scale and duration of Star’s compliance failures. Star earlier warned that even a AU$100 million fine could jeopardize its ability to continue as a going concern.
“If you want to run a casino, you’ve got to put in place very costly and significant systems, processes and controls,” said White, as reported by The Australian. “There was a manifest failure on the part of Star to do that and that warrants this court imposing a very high penalty, much higher than $100 million.
“An oppressive penalty, we accept, is not appropriate but $400 million is not an oppressive penalty in this case. It’s an appropriate penalty for specific and general deterrence purposes,” he added.
$266M Suncity Credit Line
On Thursday, the court heard that Star made “innumerable” violations of AML laws, which included forging business ties with 117 high-risk customers. The company has admitted that 70 of these customers – who were either junket funders, operators, or players – posed a high money laundering risk.
Among these was Alvin Chau, boss of Macau-based junket Suncity, to whom the casino supplied a credit line of up to AU$266.67 million (US$174 million). That’s despite Australian authorities expressing concerns about Chau’s purported links to organized crime, specifically the 14K triads, as far back as 2017.
Star allowed Suncity to secretly operate an unbranded VIP room, known as “Salon 95,” which continued to exist after then-Star CEO Matt Bekier told regulators his company had severed business links with the junket.
In January 2023, Chau was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Macau court for criminal association and illegal gambling.
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