New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC) didn’t approve the hiring of an independent monitor for The Star Entertainment Group’s Star Sydney Casino property.   

The loss of the license:  

An appointee of the NICC, Nicholas Weeks, is the current leader of the Star Sydney Casino property. This decision was made after the suspension of this casino’s license in October and decision of a fine the casino has to pay. The penalty to be paid is AU $100 million ($66.5 million).  

Queensland casino licenses are also reviewed. If authorities decide to suspend the licenses for two casinos in the state, it would be a significant loss for the company.   

The Star Entertainment Group released a statement on Thursday. The company said it had involved the company named Allen & Overy Consulting in the process. A&O’s services include monitoring and assurance services ‘in relation to management’s progress in implementing disclosed remediation actions.’  

The NICC doesn’t agree with this hire. They hadn’t supported including an independent monitor at the moment, as they stated.  

The remediation program that The Star Entertainment Group established is neither approved nor declined by the NICC. The program is still preliminary, and the company is still waiting for an answer.  

However, it seems the company will wait for a long time – Weeks believes that the NICC won’t announce its opinion for some time, and the program won’t be remedied for a while.   

The casino is, under Weeks’ leadership, still open. It continues to operate, and The Star is still getting its net income. At the same time, Weeks is seen as the holder of the license, as he has taken responsibility and control for the casino’s business matters.   

Previous events:  

After the revelations of the Bell Report, the casino giant has gotten into a whole lot of problems. The industry leader has failed to stop money laundering that has been happening in its Sydney casino.   

Not only has the group been allowing organized crime in its casino, but it has been deliberately covering the tracks of money laundering.   

Phillip Crawford, the regulatory chief, said: “The institutional arrogance of this company has been breathtaking.”  

The suspension started on October 21, when Weeks took over the role of the manager.   

The Star Entertainment Group said that it would do anything that was in its power to regain its license and the trust of the players and operators. Will that happen? Hopefully, we will find out soon.