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Crown Shares Dive As Casino Probe Resumes

ChanteCorreia5174 2022.06.14 04:55 조회 수 : 1

Shares in Crown Resorts have sunk to a more than two-year low amid more poor press and the resumption of a public inquiry into NSW's casinos.

The probe initiated by the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority is investigating the multi-billion dollar industry's vulnerability to money laundering and organised crime.

Former Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin has been tasked with reporting on whether Crown and its Barangaroo casino licensee are fit to hold a gaming licence in NSW.

The latest round of hearings kicked off in Sydney with expert witness Paul Bromberg, from consultancy firm Spectrum Gaming Group, who appeared by video-link from Bangkok to advise on junkets for high-rollers.

Mr Bromberg said casinos had left themselves open to alleged money laundering by hosting junkets for mega-rich VIP players, 96 per cent of whom were from mainland China and Hong Kong.

"There's been a huge wave of hot money coming out of China over the past 10 years, leading to a huge increase in the VIP market," he told the inquiry on Monday.

In China's gambling capital Macau, junkets were traditionally run by Triad-backed groups independent of the casinos, which were unaware or "too scared" to stop the gang making backroom deals with players, Mr Bromberg said.

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However since China's corruption crackdown in late 2012, high rollers have shifted further abroad, to places where despite tighter regulation they can still access crime-linked credits and funnel them through casinos.

And unlike Macau, "in Australia the casino maintains control over most VIP rooms", Mr Bromberg said.

His appearance follows a report in Nine newspapers on Sunday that a Crown Resorts vice-president authorised a junior casino staff member to transfer $500,000 to Melbourne drug trafficker in January 2017.

Meanwhile, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is casting its eye over a now halted $1.8 billion deal to sell a 20 per cent stake in the company to Lawrence Ho's Melco International last May.

Mr Ho's father, Stanley Ho, has been allegedly linked to organised crime and is banned from being an associate of Crown's Barangaroo casino - though he has never been convicted and 안전한놀이터 has always rejected such accusations.

Crown Resort board members Michael Johnston and John Alexander, as well as Crown's general counsel and company secretary Mary Manos, and Melco's Geoffrey Davis, will be called before the inquiry.

Major Crown Resort's shareholder James Packer and Lawrence Ho are set to appear at a later date.

Crown shares were 6.55 per cent lower at $10.99 by 1502 AEDT, having slipped to $10.975 in earlier trade.

The shares fell to $10.80 in October 2017, following accusations by Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie the company had deliberately tampered with poker machines.



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