The Star ordered to pay A$260m after court finds large-scale AML failures

The Federal Court on 28 October ordered The Star Pty Limited and The Star Entertainment QLD Limited to pay a combined A$260m after finding contraventions of Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws between 30 November 2016 and 30 November 2022. The judgment allocates A$195m to Star Sydney and A$65m to Star Queensland, payable in four equal instalments on 25 November 2026, 25 May 2027, 25 November 2027 and 25 May 2028. Both companies must also pay AUSTRAC’s costs.

AUSTRAC’s post-judgment account adds the regulator’s description of the conduct and the court’s reasoning. Justice Cameron Moore said The Star had already paid A$200m in penalties for conduct that significantly overlapped with these proceedings. The earlier penalties, licence suspensions and supervision by a manager were taken into account and are separate from the new A$260m order.

What the court found

The Court found that The Star failed to maintain a compliant AML/CTF programme and failed to monitor customers to identify, mitigate and manage money laundering and terrorism financing risks. The failures included not verifying customer information and source of funds, inadequate due diligence and inadequate monitoring of high-risk customers.

More than 1,200 customers were able to gamble through channels assessed as high-risk for money laundering and terrorism financing. Those channels included third-party transactions and cash deposits where the third party’s identity was not recorded, creating limited transparency over the source of funds.

AUSTRAC said The Star permitted a private casino within its casino to operate without appropriate oversight, continued to court customers excluded from gambling in another state and allowed junkets to use private gaming rooms despite concerns about suspicious activity and the known risks associated with junkets.

The Court said non-compliance “undermined the ability of AUSTRAC and law enforcement agencies to trace money to its source”, reducing opportunities to disrupt unlawful activity and recover criminal proceeds. Justice Moore said “a significant part of Star’s business was dependent upon turning a blind eye to customers who presented a high ML/TF risk”.

The figures illustrate the commercial exposure. Junket revenue exceeded A$1.4bn, while junket profit in the pre-COVID years exceeded A$100m. The Star calculated revenue from high-risk customers at approximately A$1.33bn between November 2016 and November 2022. The Court said those figures were not a measure of benefit derived from the contraventions, but showed the potential profits from a non-compliant approach.

AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas said The Star “put profit over compliance on a large scale”. The regulator said it could not determine how much money high-risk customers moved through the casinos because of the admitted monitoring deficiencies.

AUSTRAC’s wider enforcement

The case is the latest significant AML action by AUSTRAC. In July, it secured enforceable undertakings requiring bet365 to overhaul its AML systems and confirming Sportsbet’s remediation after an external audit. In September, AUSTRAC began issuing infringement notices to non-enrolled businesses, with daily penalties for non-compliance.

The first instalment from Star Queensland, A$16.25m, and from Star Sydney, A$48.75m, is due on 25 November 2026.