If you’re just joining us now, here is what you need to know. Today the NSW government tabled the long-awaited report of the Bergin inquiry into Sydney’s second casino licence, which is held by the James Packer-backed Crown Resorts.
Crown opened its new $2.2 billion complex in Barangaroo in late December, but without the gaming rooms that underpinned the project.
Commissioner Patricia Bergin, a former NSW Supreme Court judge, was appointed to inquire into the Barangaroo licence in August 2019. Today, she found:
- A Crown Resorts subsidiary, Crown Sydney Gaming, was not a “suitable person” to hold the casino licence, and Crown Resorts was not a “suitable person” to be a close associate of the licensee.
- Commissioner Bergin said the finding of Crown’s unsuitability stemmed from evidence of money laundering at its Melbourne and Perth casinos, the arrest of 19 staff in China in 2016 and its partnerships with “junket” tour operators linked to organised crime.
- However, she said the companies could engage in a process of “conversion to suitability”. This would include a major shakeup of the Crown Resorts board and “a full and wide-ranging forensic audit of all of their accounts” to ensure they are not being used for money-laundering.
- Crown Resorts chief executive Ken Barton came under fire, along with directors Andrew Demetriou and Michael Johnston. Commissioner Bergin said it was unlikely Crown or its subsidiary company could become suitable persons while they remained as directors.