They say the house always wins.
At The Star, the Federal Court has just introduced an exception worth $260 million.
The casino operator has been hit with a massive civil penalty for systemic breaches of Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
Justice Cameron Moore’s assessment was blunt: the company put profit ahead of compliance.
That’s a fairly expensive reminder that “know your customer” requires more effort than remembering which champagne they prefer.
The court found more than 1,500 contraventions between November 2016 and November 2022, including failures to monitor more than 170 high-risk customers. Senior management knew of serious risks involving some customers, yet those customers remained welcome.
This concerns safeguards against criminal exploitation. Breaching counter-terrorism financing laws does not, by itself, establish that the company financed terrorism.
AUSTRAC launched the civil proceedings in 2022. It sought a $400 million penalty. Star argued that anything above $100 million could force it into liquidation.
The court settled on $260 million, payable in four equal instalments over 19 months.
Even the casino has now discovered the importance of a payment plan.
But behind the corporate embarrassment are serious consequences.
Money-laundering controls help protect the financial system from criminal proceeds. They’re essential safeguards, even when a profitable customer would rather skip the questions.
My view? Compliance needs authority inside a company, particularly when someone commercially valuable raises red flags.
If the sales pitch gets a standing ovation while the risk team gets ignored, something is badly wrong.
There’s also a difficult question about deterrence: penalties must reflect serious misconduct, while financial distress can affect employees who had no responsibility for it.
The test now is whether Star demonstrates lasting change through its decisions, oversight and customer checks.
Because casinos understand risk.
This judgment shows what happens when managing it becomes less important than taking the money.
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