Crown faces Australian High Court money laundering action

BTN News
Tuesday, 01 March 2022

Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) has begun civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth for alleged serious and systemic non-compliance with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws.

The action follows proactive compliance work with the casino sector which led to a number of detailed enforcement investigations including into Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth’s compliance.

Nicole Rose, ceo Austrac said Crown failed to meet AML/CTF obligations, making its business and Australia’s financial system vulnerable to criminal exploitation.

“Austrac’s investigation identified poor governance, risk management and failures to have and maintain a compliant AML/CTF program detailing how Crown would identify, mitigate and manage the risk of their products and services being misused for money laundering or terrorism financing.

"They also failed to carry out appropriate ongoing customer due diligence including on some very high risk customers. This led to widespread and serious non-compliance over a number of years,” said Rose.

“Austrac has taken this strong action to achieve enduring change and ensure that Crown will fully meet their obligations to protect themselves and Australia’s financial system from criminal activity.”

Crown faces Australian High Court money laundering action

BTN News
Tuesday, 01 March 2022

Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) has begun civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth for alleged serious and systemic non-compliance with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws.

The action follows proactive compliance work with the casino sector which led to a number of detailed enforcement investigations including into Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth’s compliance.

Nicole Rose, ceo Austrac said Crown failed to meet AML/CTF obligations, making its business and Australia’s financial system vulnerable to criminal exploitation.

“Austrac’s investigation identified poor governance, risk management and failures to have and maintain a compliant AML/CTF program detailing how Crown would identify, mitigate and manage the risk of their products and services being misused for money laundering or terrorism financing.

"They also failed to carry out appropriate ongoing customer due diligence including on some very high risk customers. This led to widespread and serious non-compliance over a number of years,” said Rose.

“Austrac has taken this strong action to achieve enduring change and ensure that Crown will fully meet their obligations to protect themselves and Australia’s financial system from criminal activity.”