June 17 (Reuters) – An Australian court on Wednesday banned former Star Entertainment CEO Matthias Bekier from managing companies for six years and fined him A$700,000 ($494,620) over failure to handle money laundering risks at the casino operator.
The judgment comes months after the Federal Court found Bekier and former chief legal and risk officer Paula Martin breached their duties by failing to sufficiently address risks at the troubled group.
In March, the court said that Bekier did not properly deal with a KPMG report that identified deficiencies in Star’s anti-money laundering and criminal activity processes and failed to adequately manage risks tied to junket operator Suncity.
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee in his judgment on Wednesday said that Bekier and Martin had not demonstrated a sufficient understanding of the seriousness of their breaches.
“It is one thing to regret the consequences of having been investigated and sued; it is another to demonstrate an appreciation of why the conduct found by the Court involved serious failures in the discharge of duties owed by senior officers of a casino operator,” Lee said.
Martin was fined A$400,000 and banned from managing companies for seven years for breaches including failure to advise the board about risks related to Suncity, whose CEO was arrested in late 2021 over alleged links to cross-border gambling and money laundering.
Bekier resigned as Star’s CEO in 2022 amid an investigation over possible breaches of anti-money laundering and counter terrorism laws at Star’s casinos, while Martin also stepped down the same year.
Star did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
($1 = 1.4152 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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