Star Entertainment hit with A$260m Federal Court fine over AML failures

The Star Entertainment Group was fined more than A$260m by the Federal Court for breaches of anti‑money‑laundering and counter‑terrorism financing laws, the judgment published on Wednesday found. The Court ruled the company failed to maintain a compliant AML/CTF program and did not properly monitor customers for money‑laundering and terrorism‑financing risks between November 2016 and November 2022.

Federal Court ruling and penalties

The Court ordered payments split by venue. The Star Sydney must pay A$195 million, of which A$48.75 million must be paid by 25 November. The Star Queensland is to pay A$65 million, including A$16.25 million payable by 25 November. The investigation was first announced by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and had been ongoing since November 2022. The Court described the breaches as hindering AUSTRAC and law enforcement agencies’ ability to trace the origin of funds.

Findings on conduct and revenue

The judgment set out a catalogue of compliance failures. The Star failed to verify customer data, establish sources of funds, conduct necessary background checks and properly monitor gambling activity for high‑risk patrons. The Court concluded those shortcomings allowed opaque third‑party transactions and cash payments where the identity of payors was unknown.

"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," AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said.

Justice Moore set out the financial scale the Court considered when assessing culpability. She recorded that revenue from junkets exceeded A$1.4 billion, profit from junkets in the pre‑COVID years exceeded A$100 million, and the revenue from high‑risk customers over the November 2016 to November 2022 period was approximately A$1.33 billion on The Star's own calculation.

"Star continued to receive and profit from money that evidence available to it suggested was most likely from criminal activity and was being laundered," Justice Moore wrote.

Company response and next steps

The Star Entertainment did not publicly comment on the Judge's decision at the time of publication. The Court's orders set near‑term payment deadlines for specified portions of the fines, and the case record emphasised that the failures had reduced authorities' capacity to prevent illegal activity and seize criminal proceeds.

For further regulatory context see the AUSTRAC investigation and related rulings on the regulation page.