Inside Asian Gaming

IAG NOV 2021年11月 亞博匯 16 AUSTRALIA’S STAR ACCUSED OF AML, JUNKET FAILURES 澳洲星億被控反洗錢及博彩中介方面未盡責 A REPORT by three Australian media outlets alleges casino operator Star Entertainment Group has mirrored its local rival Crown Resorts by enabling suspected money laundering, organized crime, fraud and foreign interference. The allegations claim that Star, operator of The Star Sydney, The Star Gold Coast and Treasury Brisbane, has long cultivated high-roller gamblers with links to organized crime while ignoring red flags over the source of client funds. In particular, the media outlets point to a report by international auditor KPMG – commissioned by Star and presented to its Board of Directors – which outlined apparent failings in Star’s anti-money laundering procedures. The report warned that Star’s AML procedures do “not consider terrorism financing, as required by the AML-CTF Act,” that its assessments of certain gamblers “appear to understate the level of money-laundering risk” and that the company had “no documented money-laundering risk assessment, or risk-assessment methodology” to be applied to Asian junket operators. The reports claim Star allowed Chinese high-rollers to use debit cards such as Union Pay to withdraw “hundreds of millions of dollars in funds” from Star hotels for gambling purposes as a means of avoiding detection. A similar practice was found to have occurred in Melbourne during the recent Royal Commission into Crown Melbourne’s suitability to retain its casino license. Star issued a statement in response in which it said it was “concerned by a number of assertions within the media reports that it considers misleading.” 澳洲三家媒體 聯合報道稱，當地娛樂場營運商 星億集團和其對手皇冠集團一樣，涉嫌縱容洗 錢、有組織犯罪、欺詐及外國干預。 這些報道稱星億集團長期以來一直培養 與有組織犯罪有聯繫的豪客卻忽視客戶資金來 源的危險信號。星億集團在澳洲營運The Star Sydney、The Star Gold Coast及Treasury Brisbane。 媒體尤其指出，國際審計機構畢馬威 (KPMG)在受星億委託向其董事會提交的一份 報告中，指出了星億的反洗錢程序存在明顯缺 陷。該報告警告稱，星億的反洗錢程序並未按 照《反洗錢及反恐融資》法案的要求進行。該 公司對於某些賭客的評估「似乎低估了存在洗 錢的風險」，而且該公司「沒有記錄在案的洗 錢風險評估」，或是適用於亞洲博彩中介人的 「風險評估方法。」 報道稱，星億允許內地賭客使用銀聯等借 記卡從星億酒店提取「數億美元的資金」以逃 避監管。近期皇家委員會調查皇冠墨爾本是否 適格保留其賭牌時，也發現了後者有著類似的 做法。 星億已發表一篇聲明回應，稱「對媒體報 道中的一些具誤導性說法表示關注。」