As it became known just a few days ago, the Australian casino group Crown Resorts is to pay a record fine of an unbelievable AUD 80 million for the fact that the company was involved in illegal financial transactions. The negative headlines surrounding the multi-billion dollar casino group have been piling up recently. Last year we reported on a multi-million dollar money laundering at Crown Casino Melbourne.
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The gambling authority responsible for the Australian state of Victoria, or VCGLR for short, has sentenced the gambling group to the penalty. According to the current exchange rate, the 80 million fine corresponds to around 54.09 million euros. The Australian authority found it proven that the company gave Chinese players the opportunity to access the balance of the respective Chinese debit cards without permission. Under current regulations, such action was not and is not permitted in Australia.
In the period from 2012 to 2016 alone, around 164 million AUD are said to have been transferred without authorization in this way. In the end, Crown Resorts managed to generate income of more than AUD 32 million. The Gaming Authority is convinced that the managers responsible at Crown Resorts knew exactly what was going on, so they knowingly violated the regulations.
In her statement, the managing director of the VCGLR emphasizes that they want to ensure that Crown Resorts no longer profits in any way from the illegal financial transactions. For this reason, it was decided to set the penalty accordingly high. It is interesting to note that the Victorian government decided to tighten the gambling laws just a few weeks ago. Previously, the maximum fine for serious violations was “only” AUD 1 million. In recent weeks, however, serious violations of the Casino Control Act can result in fines of up to A$100 million.
Added to this is the deterrent effect that the 80 million fine will have on other gambling companies. As recently as March of this year, we reported that financial giant Blackstone had bought Crown Resorts.
Crown Resorts is a Melbourne, Australia-based gaming company that was only established in 2007. Crown Resorts has mainly specialized in operating hotels and casinos. Most recently, Crown Resorts generated annual revenues of more than A$8.7 billion. The company’s managing director is Steve McCann. In addition to the Crown Melbourne, the Group’s well-known properties also include the Crown Perth and the Crown Sydney.
Crown Resorts has been criticized time and again in the recent past. Now the casino operator has to spend the equivalent of more than 54 million euros to pay the fine from the Victorian Gaming Authority. However, the company’s shares were relatively unimpressed by the announcement and fell only slightly. Experts had already expected a severe penalty in advance.
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