Crown Resorts, the Australian casino operator bought by Blackstone Inc (BX.N) after three devastating inquiries, agreed to pay A$450 million ($294 million) for violating anti-money laundering regulations, completing its darkest chapter.
The company, dominated by billionaire founder James Packer before he sold last year, said it agreed to the payment after newspaper articles alleging wide-ranging governance problems sparked inquiries in all its states and a financial crime watchdog investigation.
The federal court must accept the third-largest Australian corporation fine, which brings Crown’s total fines to A$680 million since 2020 when it was accused of disregarding organized crime and employee safety in proceedings.
“Crown’s contraventions… meant that a range of obviously high-risk practices, behaviours and customer relationships were allowed to continue unchecked for many years,” said AUSTRAC CEO Nicole Rose.
Crown has stopped working with “junkets” that lured Chinese gamblers and replaced much of its leadership since 2021 to convince the authorities it has reformed its governance procedures. 2022 saw Blackstone buy Crown for A$8.9 billion.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with AUSTRAC,” said Crown Resorts CEO Ciarán Carruthers, who arrived in September. “The company that committed these unacceptable, historic breaches is far removed from the company that exists today.”
Blackstone declined to comment.
A crown would be behind only Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), Australia’s two biggest banks, which AUSTRAC ordered to pay A$1.3 billion and A$700 million in 2020 and 2018 for anti-money laundering violations.
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