Former Star Entertainment boss Matt Bekier has blamed a poor culture at the casino for its failure to clamp down on money laundering and misleading banks and the regulator.
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Mr Bekier's second day of inquiry evidence revealed how he personally green-lit an $11 million line of credit to a high roller, okayed illegal lending and failed to ask questions about suspect practices.
Liquor and Gaming NSW is examining Star's fitness to hold a Sydney casino licence, with the probe prompted by reports of the casino operator enabling suspected money laundering, organised crime, fraud and foreign interference.
Mr Bekier resigned as CEO in March after damning evidence at a probe into The Star casino, and on Tuesday he sought to shield the board from the regulator's ire, blaming management for the company's poor culture.
"It's management that sets the culture ... the board is only there 10 days a year," he said.
Mr Bekier was shown documents from 2014 when he was the casino's chief financial officer where he was told of a "workaround" to bans on giving credit.
The cheque cashing facility scheme allowed China Union Pay (CUP) cards to be swiped at the hotel and users provided gaming chips before the funds ended up in the casino's bank account.
Mr Bekier approved the scheme, which he was warned could be considered illegal by NSW gaming regulators.
As CEO in 2015 Mr Bekier approved a patron having his CUP card withdrawal limit raised from $500,000 to $11 million.
That patron then withdrew $22 million over three days.
Until 2020, the CUP terminals were used by patrons to withdraw more than $900 million, claiming them as hotel expenses rather than revealing they were used to fund gambling.
Mr Bekier agreed on Tuesday the company had misled National Australia Bank, who ran the CUP terminals, and regulators when it suggested the transactions were for hotel expenses.
But he also said he assumed both NAB and CUP knew the true nature of the transactions.
Even as internal audits and documents raised concerns the casino was breaching the law and anti-money laundering requirements, Mr Bekier said he neither he nor the board sought to confirm whether they were telling the banks the truth about the transactions.
Mr Bekier assumed his executive team would have told him of the risks and no one ever raised the alarm with him.
The former chief executive also admitted to lying to journalists when he said the casino was cutting its ties with gambling junket operator Suncity, which had links to Chinese organised crime.
Instead Suncity, which had a VIP room at the Star, was moved to another secret room with reduced privileges.
This was despite the casino's staff being stonewalled by Suncity as they tried to investigate suspect practices, including the junket selling gaming chips to guests directly instead of the patrons purchasing them at the casino's licensed cages.
On Monday Mr Bekier admitted to other shortcomings, including in the casino's international business, and suggested "fresh leadership" at the ASX-listed company.
Mr Bekier will return to the inquiry on Wednesday for a third day of evidence.
Australian Associated Press
