{"id":168416,"date":"2021-03-24T15:15:21","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T22:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=168416"},"modified":"2021-03-24T15:35:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T22:35:12","slug":"crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown Resorts Suitability Probe for Victoria License Kicks off in Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crown Resort\u2019s<\/a> retention of its gaming license for its flagship Melbourne property could rely on the effectiveness of a recently implemented reform program.<\/p>\n

\"Finkelstein\"
Former judge Ray Finkelstein will ultimately decide whether Crown can keep its license for the Crown Melbourne Casino. (Image: Daily Advent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s according to former judge Ray Finkelstein, who is chairing the state of Victoria\u2019s licensing suitability inquiry into Crown\u2019s operations, which kicked off in Melbourne Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The inquiry was triggered by a similar investigation in New South Wales, which ultimately decided the casino giant was unfit to hold a license in the state. Crown has recently completed construction of a $1.7 billion casino in the Sydney, the NSW capital.<\/p>\n

Relations with Triads<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At the end of the NSW examination, a 700-plus page report compiled by former NSW Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin concluded Crown had \u201cpoor corporate governance, deficient risk-management structures and processes, and a poor corporate culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bergin also found the company had been \u201cfacilitating money laundering, exposing staff to the risk of detention in a foreign jurisdiction, and pursuing commercial relationships with individuals with connections to Triads and organized crime groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bergin\u2019s report triggered mass resignations in the board room.<\/p>\n

Bergin Verdict Accepted <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Finkelstein told the hearing Wednesday that he had written to Crown asking whether it accepted the damning verdict of the NSW inquiry.<\/p>\n

Crown had written back to say it accepted it was not suitable to operate the Sydney casino. But it disputed \u201cthe willfulness or deliberateness of the conduct concerned.\u201d It was a response Finkelstein called \u201csomewhat equivocal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Finkelstein said Crown pointed to its reform program as evidence that it deserved to keep its license in Victoria. The program will no doubt be scrutinized inside out in the coming weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As well as looking into past transgressions, which have been covered in the NSW investigation, Finkelstein\u2019s inquiry will also examine whether money laundering still exists at the Crown Melbourne. It will also look at how the company has dealt with problem gambling in the past and continues to deal with it today.<\/p>\n

Sam Gor Syndicate <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Among the Bergin inquiry\u2019s findings was that two accounts controlled by Crown Resorts for high roller deposits had been used by criminal gangs to launder the proceeds of their criminal operations at Crown Melbourne.<\/p>\n

These included members of triad super-syndicate, the Company<\/a>, also known as the Sam Gor syndicate. The group is believed to have been responsible for up to 70 percent of all drugs trafficked into Australia over the past 20 years.<\/p>\n

\n

On Wednesday, Finkelstein said he had also written to Crown Resorts to ask whether the operator had ever broken any laws in Victoria. He is currently awaiting a response.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Crown recently received a $6.2 billion takeover from private equity giant Blackstone. A change of ownership \u2013 and divestment of Crown founder James Packer, who was criticized in the Bergin report \u2013 could go some way towards wiping the slate clean with Australia\u2019s licensing authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crown Resort\u2019s retention of its gaming license for its flagship Melbourne property could rely on the effectiveness of a recently implemented reform program. That\u2019s according to former judge Ray Finkelstein, who is chairing the state of Victoria\u2019s licensing suitability inquiry into Crown\u2019s operations, which kicked off in Melbourne Wednesday. The inquiry was triggered by a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":168418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCrown Resorts Suitability Probe for Victoria License Kicks off in Melbourne<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crown Resorts licensing suitability investigation launched in Melbourne by Ray Finkelstein to see if it can keep its Victoria license.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crown Resorts Suitability Probe for Victoria License Kicks off in Melbourne\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crown Resorts licensing suitability investigation launched in Melbourne by Ray Finkelstein to see if it can keep its Victoria license.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-24T22:15:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-24T22:35:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Ray-Fink.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/\",\"name\":\"Crown Resorts Suitability Probe for Victoria License Kicks off in Melbourne\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Ray-Fink.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-24T22:15:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-24T22:35:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Crown Resorts licensing suitability investigation launched in Melbourne by Ray Finkelstein to see if it can keep its Victoria license.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-suitability-probe-for-victoria-license-kicks-off-in-melbourne\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Ray-Fink.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Ray-Fink.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Former judge Ray Finkelstein will ultimately decide whether Crown can keep its license for the Crown Melbourne Casino. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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