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Dec 13 (Reuters) – Australia’s securities regulator has launched civil proceedings in Federal Court against 11 current and former directors of casino operator Star Entertainment Group Ltd (SGR.AX) Alleged deficiencies related to money laundering risks.
It is the first lawsuit against the gaming industry and the first against a board member since reports of poor governance emerged in 2019.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) claim involves members of Star Entertainment’s board of directors from 2017 to 2019, including its former chairman, chief executive and general counsel.
ASIC alleged tuesday Star Entertainment’s board and executives “failed to pay adequate attention to the risks of money laundering and criminal gangs”.
“Star and its subsidiaries are not parties to the lawsuit,” Star Entertainment said on Tuesday.
ASIC also alleges that the group’s general counsel and former treasurer provided NAB with “knowingly permissible misleading statements”, obscuring the fact that Star allowed the use of China UnionPay cards, in breach of anti-money laundering laws prohibiting gambling. or debit card to withdraw funds.
Australia’s gaming industry has been under a regulatory swipe in recent years, with a scathing public scrutiny of its largest casino operator over lapses in money laundering protections.
last week, queensland government fined Star Entertainment a total of 100 million Australian dollars ($67.45 million) and postponed for a year the suspension of its casino license to oversee operations in the state.
($1 = 1.4826 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru and Byron Kaye in Sydney; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Shounak Dasgupta and Uttaresh.V
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