{"id":212069,"date":"2022-05-04T15:03:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T22:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=212069"},"modified":"2022-05-05T14:10:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T21:10:36","slug":"star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Entertainment Exec \u2018Stole $13.3M\u2019 from Junket Operator and Went on the Lam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Star Entertainment\u2019s senior VP of international marketing \u201cdisappeared\u201d in 2020, allegedly with AU$13.3 million (US$9.7 million) belonging to a Chinese junket operator.<\/p>\n

\"Matt
Former Star Entertainment CEO Matt Bekier told the inquiry Wednesday he did not learn of the alleged crime until after Kim went AWOL. (Image: Brendan Thorne\/Bloomberg<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s the latest explosive revelation from an ongoing inquiry<\/a> in New South Wales into the Australian casino operator\u2019s suitability to hold a license in the state. Until Wednesday, the incident had never been reported in the press.<\/p>\n

The inquiry heard that the junketer, Kuan Koi, accused Star executive Simon Kim of stealing the money.<\/p>\n

Kim is alleged to have achieved this by issuing a \u201cfalse transfer instruction\u201d to Macau junket Suncity<\/a>, then the world\u2019s biggest junket operator. This resulted in the money being sent to a personal account controlled by Kim, rather than to Koi.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Former Star CEO Matt Bekier told the inquiry that he only became aware of the allegation \u201cwhen Simon Kim disappeared,\u201d according to The Sydney Morning Herald. <\/em>The company later settled with Koi.<\/p>\n

\u2018Taking Responsibility <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bekier resigned on March 28 in a bid to \u201ctake responsibility\u201d for some of the company\u2019s failings, which have been laid bare by the inquiry.<\/p>\n

These include several of his own, such as that he chose to ignore a 2018 report compiled by third-party consultant KMPG that Star was not complying with anti-money laundering laws.<\/p>\n

Bekier \u201cgrew hostile\u201d and \u201csulky\u201d after he read the report and claimed its findings were \u201cwrong,\u201d according to Star\u2019s former chief risk officer, Paul McWilliams.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But McWilliams testified in March that he agreed with its analysis at the time, and later found the problems were worse than he expected.<\/p>\n

\n

Star is accused of flouting AML protocols in the pursuit of VIP high rollers, some of whom<\/a> were criminals, and of forming business ties with junket groups with links to organized crime, including Suncity. The company is alleged to have misused Chinese bank cards and possibly evaded state taxes.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It has also been accused of lying to gaming regulators. The inquiry has heard damning evidence that Star allowed Suncity to secretly operate an unbranded VIP room, which was concealed from regulators. That was after Bekier had announced the company had severed its relationship with the junket.<\/p>\n

\u2018Out of Control\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lawyers assisting the inquiry brought up the Simon Kim incident Wednesday to suggest to Bekier that the VIP team was \u201csimply out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inquiry also heard about the company\u2019s president of VIP sales, Marcus Lim, who was accused of \u201ccorrupt payments,\u2019 and \u201caffiliation with illegal and undesirable elements,\u201d as well as financial mismanagement, according to the Herald.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Star launched an investigation into Lim. But he was made redundant before it could be completed.<\/p>\n

Bekier denied the team had been \u201cout of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there were clearly shortcomings,\u201d he conceded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Star Entertainment\u2019s senior VP of international marketing \u201cdisappeared\u201d in 2020, allegedly with AU$13.3 million (US$9.7 million) belonging to a Chinese junket operator. That\u2019s the latest explosive revelation from an ongoing inquiry in New South Wales into the Australian casino operator\u2019s suitability to hold a license in the state. Until Wednesday, the incident had never been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":212070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStar Entertainment Exec \u2018Stole $13.3M\u2019 from Junket Operator, Went AWOL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Star Entertainment\u2019s senior VP of international marketing, Simon Kim, stole AU$13.3 million from junket operator Kuan Koi, claim.\" \/>\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-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Star Entertainment Exec \u2018Stole $13.3M\u2019 from Junket Operator, Went AWOL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Star Entertainment\u2019s senior VP of international marketing, Simon Kim, stole AU$13.3 million from junket operator Kuan Koi, claim.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/\" \/>\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=\"2022-05-04T22:03:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-05T21:10:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/star-entertainment.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\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=\"2 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-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/\",\"name\":\"Star Entertainment Exec \u2018Stole $13.3M\u2019 from Junket Operator, Went AWOL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/star-entertainment.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-04T22:03:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-05T21:10:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Star Entertainment\u2019s senior VP of international marketing, Simon Kim, stole AU$13.3 million from junket operator Kuan Koi, claim.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/star-entertainment-exec-stole-13-3m-from-junket-operator-went-awol\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/star-entertainment.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/star-entertainment.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Former Star Entertainment CEO Matt Bekier told the inquiry Wednesday he did not learn of the alleged crime until after Kim went AWOL. 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