{"id":207511,"date":"2022-03-31T11:39:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T18:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=207511"},"modified":"2022-03-31T12:07:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T19:07:13","slug":"star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Chinese billionaire banned from Australia as a \u201cnational security risk\u201d and possible agent of the Chinese government deposited A$1.7 billion ($US1.3 billion) at the Star Casino Sydney between 2010 and 2018. But Star Entertainment executives did not ask the Compliance Team to investigate the source of his wealth.<\/p>\n

\"Huang
Huang Xiangmo, pictured in Sydney, is suspected of working for the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s United Front Work Department, which attempts to influence elite individuals and organizations in favor of China. (Image: The Australian<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The revelations were disclosed during the eleventh day of an inquiry<\/a> by the state of New South Wales. They are looking into Star Entertainment\u2019s suitability to hold a gambling license in Sydney. The company has been accused of flouting anti-money laundering rules and doing business with junket operators linked to organized crime.<\/p>\n

In February 2019, Australian authorities tore up property mogul Huang Xiangmo\u2019s<\/a> bid for citizenship and revoked his permanent residency. That’s after he was found to have made illegal bribes to high-level politicians.<\/p>\n

He is suspected of working for the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s United Front Work Department. That unit gathers intelligence and attempts to influence elite individuals and organizations outside China.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Extraordinary Money\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Thursday, counsel assisting the inquiry, Caspar Conde, cross-examined Star\u2019s general manager of financial crime and investigations, Kevin Houlihan, about the casino\u2019s relationship with Huang.<\/p>\n

\n

While Huang had bought in for an \u201cextraordinary\u201d amount of money at the casino, Conde noted that his losses were \u201conly\u201d in the tens of millions. The barrister suggested this could indicate that the funds had not been deposited solely for Huang\u2019s own play and that he may have allowed others to access it for gambling and other reasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

An NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation into Huang\u2019s activities concluded that an illegal donation in 2015 to the state\u2019s Labor Party probably came from the Star Sydney Casino cage.<\/p>\n

The ICAC alleged that an associate withdrew the $100,000 in cash, stuffed it into a shopping bag and dropped it off at Labor HQ in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Houlihan agreed that Huang\u2019s activities at the casino should have raised alarm bells. But he said he was not asked to look into the matter and didn\u2019t learn of it until it was brought up by the inquiry.<\/p>\n

Multiple Passports<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A December 9, 2017, email to Star Sydney execs from the casino\u2019s general compliance and responsible gaming manager, Micheil Brodie, addressed the casino\u2019s relationship with Huang.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t see that conditions are present for us to refuse to do business with Mr. Huang because he has not been convicted of a crime that might be relevant, he is not charged with a crime that is relevant, and his gambling activity is consistent with a high-valued customer in that he loses at about the theoretical rate over time,\u201d wrote Brodie, who, controversially, is a former head of the state gambling regulator.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Codie reminded the hearing that Star is obligated to do business with individuals of \u201cgood repute\u201d and that merely \u201cnot being convicted of a crime\u201d was part of the equation.<\/p>\n

By 2018, minutes from a meeting attended by casino officials showed they had noticed that Huang had used three different Chinese passports when providing ID at the casino. But they were still happy to give him the benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n

One official suggested having multiple passports was \u201cnormal\u201d in China and explained the differing birthdates on the documents by claiming that \u201ca lot of Chinese people\u201d don\u2019t know their exact birthdate, according to filings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Conde, when the Australian government effectively banned Huang from the country, there were discussions about keeping his account open so that others could use it. The justification was that Huang\u2019s transgressions had been \u201cpolitical\u201d rather than \u201ccriminal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hearing continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Chinese billionaire banned from Australia as a \u201cnational security risk\u201d and possible agent of the Chinese government deposited A$1.7 billion ($US1.3 billion) at the Star Casino Sydney between 2010 and 2018. But Star Entertainment executives did not ask the Compliance Team to investigate the source of his wealth. The revelations were disclosed during the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":207513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,21,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStar Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Star Sydney let \u2018national security risk\u2019 Huang Xiangmo deposit A$1.7 billion in the casino. In 2019, he was banned from the country.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Star Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Star Sydney let \u2018national security risk\u2019 Huang Xiangmo deposit A$1.7 billion in the casino. In 2019, he was banned from the country.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/\" \/>\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=\"2022-03-31T18:39:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-31T19:07:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Huang.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\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/\",\"name\":\"Star Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Huang.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-31T18:39:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-31T19:07:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Star Sydney let \u2018national security risk\u2019 Huang Xiangmo deposit A$1.7 billion in the casino. In 2019, he was banned from the country.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Huang.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Huang.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Huang Xiangmo, pictured in Sydney, is suspected of working for the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s United Front Work Department, which attempts to influence elite individuals and organizations in favor of China. (Image: The Australian)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Star Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. 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. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Star Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino","description":"Star Sydney let \u2018national security risk\u2019 Huang Xiangmo deposit A$1.7 billion in the casino. In 2019, he was banned from the country.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Star Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino","og_description":"Star Sydney let \u2018national security risk\u2019 Huang Xiangmo deposit A$1.7 billion in the casino. In 2019, he was banned from the country.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-03-31T18:39:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-31T19:07:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Huang.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/","name":"Star Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Huang.jpg","datePublished":"2022-03-31T18:39:01+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-31T19:07:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Star Sydney let \u2018national security risk\u2019 Huang Xiangmo deposit A$1.7 billion in the casino. In 2019, he was banned from the country.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Huang.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Huang.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Huang Xiangmo, pictured in Sydney, is suspected of working for the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s United Front Work Department, which attempts to influence elite individuals and organizations in favor of China. (Image: The Australian)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-sydney-inquiry-national-security-risk-deposited-1-3b-at-casino\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Star Sydney Inquiry: \u2018National Security Risk\u2019 Deposited $1.3B at Casino"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. 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. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}