Posted on: 07/11/2022, 09: 38h.
Last updated on: 07/11/2022, 09:49.
The Gaming Authority of the Australian state of Victoria has sentenced the Crown Casino in Melbourne to a record fine of 120 million Australian dollars (approximately 78 million euros). According to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC), the reason for this is the violation of the rules on player protection.
Like the VGCCC in a Press release [Seite auf Englisch] he argued that the infringements were by no means isolated. Rather, it is a pattern of extensive and systematic errors that would extend for more than twelve years already.
Uninterrupted play and manipulation of slot machines allowed
In particular, the Gaming Authority found that the casino operator allowed customers to gamble continuously for extended periods of time, sometimes in excess of 24 hours. Furthermore, the casino has not prevented players from using slot machines with specials picks to manipulate them so that they could continuously ring the machines.
Crown Casino Melbourne has been making negative headlines for years. Last year, for example, it was revealed that over 8 million Australian dollars would be laundered at the Crown Casino. They are said to come from the Michael Gu-owned company, which caused a sensation in 2020 with the million-dollar bankruptcy of the iProsperity group of companies.
Crown Casino was also sentenced to a record first fine of AUD 80 million in May of this year. At the time, the gambling authority accused him of carrying out illegal financial transactions. The casino allowed Chinese players to illegally access funds on their Chinese bank cards from 2012 to 2016. This involved financial transactions totaling AUD 164 million.
In 2017, it was first revealed that Crown Casino was rumored to have distributed the same slot machine tampering choices to customers, a practice that the gaming operator was banned by the VGCCC in 2019.
Warnings for the entire gambling industry
The chair of the Gaming Authority, Fran Thorn, has now said that Crown Casino has long not lived up to its moral and legal obligations.
Thorn commented on the amount of the fine as follows:
The record A $ 120 million fine we imposed on Crown today will send a clear signal to Crown that the Gambling Commission will not tolerate any wrongdoing that puts our community at greater risk of gambling-related harm.
However, the fine isn’t just a clear message to the Crown Casino. The Gaming Authority issues a warning to the entire Victorian gaming industry in its press release. You will do everything to minimize the harmful effects of gambling and will pursue your own needs to that end.
