Crown Resorts’ Chief of Financial Crime and Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), Nick Stokes, told the Victorian Royal Commission his attempts to bring additional members to the group’s understaffed anti-money laundering department were stifled under the pretence “casinos had always been that way”. Mr Stokes joined the gambling company in the fall of 2019 and was quick to identify the issues associated with its junket operations.
A New South Wales inquiry into Crown’s operations in 2020 established certain junkets frequently received support from organised crime syndicates that engage in illicit activities like money laundering and drug trafficking. Shortly after he joined Crown, Mr Stokes discussed money laundering issues and preventative strategies with the company’s Chief Legal Officer Joshua Preston.
The Chief Legal Officer would listen to Stokes’ concerns and suggestions but expressed the opinion gambling operators had always been like this and the rules enforced on banks did not quite apply to them. Before he joined Crown as an MLRO, Mr Stokes had accumulated years of experience in the field of financial crimes within the banking sector. He presented Mr Preston with a paper on the risks associated with junket operators, but the Chief Legal Officer did not pass it on to other senior members of the Crown staff.
Mr Preston rebuffed him when the MLRO insisted on bringing more personnel to the company’s under-staffed anti-money laundering team, which comprised only three members at the time. Preston parted ways with Crown Resorts in 2020 after appearing at the New South Wales inquiry when he claimed he was unaware of the connection between junket operators and organised crime groups.
The MLRO said in September 2020 the gambling company had changed its attitude since then. Its anti-money laundering team now consists of twenty members. Mr Stokes told the Victorian Royal Commission Crown has adopted a proactive approach towards such responsibilities and is now seeking to further increase the anti-money laundering team.
Crown Confirms It Will Stop Dealing with Junkets in the Future
The Victorian Royal Commission previously heard the gambling company has no intention of admitting more high-rollers linked to international junket operators to its venues in Australia. The operator took up this commitment in a letter to the Royal Commission that investigates Crown’s fitness as a license holder in Victoria.
The state launched the inquiry after allegations of links between private junket operators and organised crime groups. Penelope Neskovcin QC, who assists the inquiry, accused the gambling company of demonstrating “wilful blindness” to illicit activities and doing the “bare minimum” when it comes to anti-money laundering policies.
The company had previously made ambiguous statements about banning international junket groups from its Australian casino properties, Neskovcin commented. However, she confirmed the Royal Commission had received a letter from Crown in which the company confirmed it had ceased doing business with international junket operators. The letter also stated the gambling giant has no intentions of dealing with them in the future.
The company initially made this commitment in November 2020 but did not leave out the possibility of resuming its relations with junket operators should local gambling regulatory bodies permit it. As a result, Victoria’s gambling watchdog temporarily prohibited the company from bringing junket tour groups to the country in April 2021. Crown consented to the New South Wales regulator’s insistence to stop bringing international junket groups to its proposed Barangaroo property last week.
- Author
Daniel Williams
