Star Entertainment fined A$260m for six years of money-laundering failures
An Australian federal court fined casino operator Star Entertainment A$260 million ($182.73 million) on Wednesday for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, a penalty that lands as the company reports just A$239 million in cash and cash equivalents.
The judgment follows a civil lawsuit filed in 2022 by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), which alleged Star entities failed to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations. The court found Star Sydney's anti-money laundering programme fell short of legal requirements and that the operator breached the law on multiple occasions each time it began providing designated services to customers between 30 November 2016 and 30 November 2022, among other violations.
The fine is below the roughly A$400 million AUSTRAC had sought, according to media reports last year. Star shares were placed on a trading halt earlier on Wednesday ahead of the court's decision. The company said earlier this week it held A$239 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of last month, alongside A$80 million in restricted deposits. AUSTRAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case is one of the largest financial-crime penalties imposed on an Australian casino group and underlines the compliance burden facing gambling operators, whose cash-intensive operations are closely watched by AML regulators. For Star, the order adds to pressure on a balance sheet already constrained by restricted cash.
