Australia government orders probe into officials and Crown handing of Chinese high rollers

Australia's government on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into allegations that police, customs and immigration officials illegally smoothed the way for Crown casinos to attract Chinese high rollers by fast-tracking visa applications. 

Crown Resorts, a USD 5.5 billion gaming company founded and now part-owned by Australian billionaire James Packer, has been in the spotlight since Sunday when a series of media reports alleged it used junket operators with links to Asian triad gangs, that drug traffickers laundered money through the group’s Melbourne casino, and that government employees gave special treatment to wealthy Chinese gamblers, according to reports by The Age, a Melbourne daily newspaper, and Nine Entertainment’s television network, based on leaked company documents. 

Attorney-General Christian Porter said on Tuesday he had referred the allegations raised by the Nine News investigation to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI). "It's my view that there are sufficient concerns raised at least to warrant further investigations," he told the Australian parliament when he announced the commission would investigate the matter and recommend whether to launch a full investigation.

Officials are accused of waving Chinese VIP gamblers through customs, issuing fast-track visas to high rollers and moonlighting for a VIP visitor to the casino. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie told parliament that in one instance some gamblers stepped off a plane and travelled directly to the casino, stopping only to pick up a sex worker en route. The high rollers who are alleged to have visited the casino on junkets from China include Ming Chai — the cousin of Chinese President Xi Jinping —, who allegedly had an Australian passport and was aboard a private jet that was searched by Australian agents in 2016 on suspicion the aircraft was involved in money laundering.

A former head of the Australian Border Force, Roman Quaedvlieg, told the papers in an article published Sunday that two senior government officials had lobbied him to make it easier for wealthy Chinese gamblers to enter Australia on private jets.

Porter stressed that beyond the media reports he did not have "any other obvious evidence otherwise available that supports allegations against law enforcement, immigration or customs authorities". 

Crown said it would work with any investigation and denied wrongdoing. "Crown absolutely rejects allegations of illegality made in Parliament today and in recent media reporting. We believe these allegations are ill-informed and an attempt to smear the company," a statement said.

The Department of Home Affairs told AFP it has a series of arrangements with large international organizations to quickly process short-stay visas. Such an agreement existed with Crown between 2003 and 2016. The department said there was "no reduced vetting in certain locations or for certain applicants" and there was "no discretion" to waive legislative requirements for such visas.

ACLEI is only able to investigate law enforcement agencies including police, Home Affairs and Border Force officials. It has the power to apply for search warrants, seize evidence and exercise coercive powers against officials. If wrongdoing by Crown employees is uncovered, the watchdog will refer it to federal police.

Federal MP Andrew Wilkie had unsuccessfully sought a broader inquiry into the company by a parliamentary committee. “There is clearly a need for everyone in this place to understand we have a multi-jurisdictional issue, and Crown Casino is at the center of it,” he told Parliament on Tuesday.

Wilkie has revealed allegations from a former Crown casino driver who claims he transported foreign nationals to the company’s Melbourne hotel from a private jet base without being subject to border security checks and saw women degraded, abused and “slapped around”.

He said that the driver “routinely transported foreign nationals between Crown casino and the Melbourne jet base through the notorious access gate 24”. “He recounts that there were no Border Force checks. Foreign nationals [were] getting off with up to 15 bags for a short stay, stopping only on the way to the casino to pick up a sex worker,” he added.

Wilkie said the allegations “go to the performance of Victoria police, [the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation], the Australian federal police, Austrac, the Department of Transport, Border Force and Asio”.

The speech triggered a fall in Crown’s share price from $12.36 to $11.78 before recovering to a day-end price of $11.98, down 2.3%. After the news Tuesday, Crown shares initially fell more than 5%, against a broadly higher Australian market. They recovered to close down 1.9% at A$12.03.

Crown has casinos in Melbourne and Perth, and is building another in Sydney to be opened in 2021. Packer, who stepped down from the board of Crown in 2018, citing mental illness, is one of the country’s most famous business executives.

Two months ago, he sold 19.9 percent of Crown to Melco, leaving him with about 26 percent of the company, which reported profits of 559 million Australian dollars — about $380 million — in the year ended that June 30, 2018. Members of Crown’s high-stakes “VIP program” wagered 52 billion Australian dollars — about $36 billion — in the same period, according to corporate filings.

The Law Enforcement Integrity inquiry is likely to focus on whether federal officials did anything wrong in their relations with Crown. The casino operator is primarily regulated by state authorities, which have said they are monitoring the situation but have not taken any specific action.