Star Entertainment’s Ex-Boss Says Company’s Failures is the Fault of Other Executives

By John Isaac,
Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac is an editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He writes expert articles on card games like blackjack and poker. In addition, he is also well aware of the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets. You can rely on verified information and insightful details.

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Last updated: May 16, 2022

Matt Bekier’s resignation as Star Entertainment’s CEO has not stopped him from appearing in a New South Wales inquiry. Bekier, a casino operator, is alleged to have mismanaged accounting and reporting policies, and also facilitated money laundering. There is no way he was ever going to avoid the inquiry.

According to Business News Australia, Bekier claims most of the company’s problems were not his fault. Now the former boss of Star entertainment, Bekier, is revealing more details about what transpired at the company. In an attempt to avoid shouldering the responsibility, he is now blaming the failures on four of the company’s executives. He insists that the executives kept information from him, and he would have taken the necessary steps had he known.

Bekier Claims He Didn’t Know Anything About It

Several high-ranking Star Entertainment executives are taking a stand in front of the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority with Bekier the latest to face the panel. The regulator wants to determine if they should withdraw the state’s casino license of the company or if they should receive sanctions similar to what Crown got for their transgressions.

Most of these executives already admitted that the failures had been extensive. They acknowledged that they could perhaps have done a much better job. The acknowledgment of the executives formed what Bekier used as part of his testimony. Bekier asserted that he had been let down by the actions of four executives.

In his defense, Matt Bekier stated:

“If the board had known about any of these things, they would have supported me in shutting down the business a long time ago. I didn’t think the business was out of control and if I didn’t see those problems, I’m not sure the board could have seen them.”

A Casino Inside a Casino

The abuse and misuse of the China UnionPay card system were one of the primary matters that caused the present state of affairs at Star Entertainment. These cards function as debit cards for the Chinese. However, it has its limitations too.

These debit cards cannot be used for gambling. It was a condition that has been repeatedly ignored by Star Entertainment. The Star casino in NSW on many occasions fabricated lodging receipts. It was an attempt to hide the fact that wealthy Chinese clients were taking out money for gambling purposes.

Casino inside a casino was another big issue. Suncity Group exclusively used Salon 95, a private gaming room. In the room, the casino is essentially controlled by the junket operator without oversight on Star’s part.

During his testimony, Bekier admitted to picking the people and establishing the policies, structures, and processes, but was not personally involved in anything that was going on under his leadership. However, he only admitted to learning about the issues in the past few months. According to him, Star conducted its business transparently and appropriately.

What to Expect

With the ILGA having asked for more time, the review is expected to continue into the coming months. The final decision of the regulators could come by the end of August and attempts to mask the true nature of the issue are not likely to sway their resolution.