Star Entertainment fined A$260 million in AUSTRAC anti-money laundering case

The judgment

The court found that Star contravened Australia's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Delivering the judgment, Justice Moore said the A$100 million proposed by Star was too low and the A$400 million sought by AUSTRAC too high, according to ABC News.

"In effect, Star put profit over compliance and did so on a large scale," he said in court, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. He also said: "Star's profitability is such that it is likely to need to raise money to pay any penalty."

What AUSTRAC said

In a media release issued after the judgment, AUSTRAC said the court found Star failed to maintain a compliant AML/CTF program and failed to monitor customers to identify, mitigate and manage money laundering and terrorism financing risks. According to the regulator, more than 1,200 customers were able to gamble through channels that carried high money laundering and terrorism financing risks.

AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas said the penalty reflected the seriousness of the contraventions and built on earlier state and Commonwealth fines. "The Court found The Star did not simply fail to complete the right checks. It allowed high-risk customers to gamble without properly establishing where their money came from and put profit over compliance on a large scale," he said. He added: "Due to The Star's admitted deficiencies in monitoring we cannot know how much money high-risk customers pumped through its casinos."

The release quotes Justice Moore's reasons as noting that Star had already "received penalties of $200 million for conduct that significantly overlaps with the conduct subject to these proceedings", that its casino licences had been suspended and that it had been under the supervision of a manager. The judge also cited junket revenue of more than A$1.4 billion, and revenue from high-risk customers of about A$1.33 billion between November 2016 and November 2022 on Star's own calculation. The court said those figures were not a measure of the benefit Star derived from the contraventions, but illustrated the potential to earn profits from a non-compliant approach to AML/CTF obligations.

The case

AUSTRAC, Australia's financial intelligence agency and AML/CTF regulator, applied for civil penalty orders against the two Star entities on November 30, 2022, alleging serious and systemic non-compliance with the AML/CTF Act. Its case centred on the money laundering risks arising from Star's dealings with the junket operator Suncity and its funder, and on Star continuing to deal with them after reports of criminal links.

Star owns casinos in Sydney and on the Gold Coast and operates one in Brisbane. In its August annual report, the company described the outcome of the AUSTRAC proceedings as a material risk to its liquidity.

Trading halt

Star asked ASX for a trading halt on the morning of October 28 "in anticipation of the Federal Court of Australia delivering judgement" in the AUSTRAC proceedings, so that its shares would not trade "in an uninformed market". The halt runs until Star releases an announcement on the judgment and its effect on the company, or until the start of trading on October 30, whichever comes first. The request was signed by Group Chief Executive Bruce Mathieson.

Other proceedings

In separate proceedings brought by the corporate regulator ASIC, the Federal Court ordered former Star chief executive Mathias Bekier to pay A$700,000 and disqualified him from managing corporations for six years, and ordered former general counsel Paula Martin to pay A$400,000 with a seven-year disqualification. Both filed notices of appeal on July 14, 2026.

In 2023, the Federal Court ordered Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth to pay A$450 million after they agreed a settlement with AUSTRAC over AML/CTF breaches.

Updated October 28, 2026 to add AUSTRAC's statement and details from the judgment cited by the regulator.

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