Federal Court fines Star Entertainment AU$260 million in AUSTRAC money laundering case

Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Star Entertainment Group to pay AU$260 million in penalties for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. Justice Cameron Moore ruled in the civil case brought by financial crime regulator AUSTRAC in 2022, which followed an investigation into Star’s operations launched in June 2021 and expanded to Queensland in January 2022. In court he said: “In effect, Star put profit over compliance and did so on a large scale.” The penalties comprise AU$195 million for The Star Sydney and AU$65 million for The Star Gold Coast, with Moore accepting that the Sydney property should carry…