Money Laundering Detectives Have Been Out at the Pub
Australian regulators got caught up monitoring nickel-and-dime businesses for far too long. The Crown casino affair shows things are starting to change.
Luck’s run out.
Photographer: Mark Dadswell/BloombergWhy did it take media reporting to get Australia’s money laundering investigators to start looking into casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd.?
Shares in the gambling company previously controlled by billionaire James Packer slumped 8.2% Monday after it said the country’s financial-crimes regulator Austrac had started a probe into the handling of “high risk and politically exposed” individuals at its Melbourne casino. The investigation started two months after Nine Entertainment Co. newspapers published a series of articles about the activities of high-rolling Chinese gamblers at Crown’s properties.