Australian casino operator Crown Resorts was warned in 2017 about its dealings with the Suncity Group junket, while Crown’s chair claimed the company’s anti-money laundering compliance failings were the result of ‘ineptitude’ not criminality.

Tuesday saw the resumption of the New South Wales Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) inquiry into Crown’s suitability to hold a state gaming license for its Crown Sydney property, which is scheduled to open in mid-December.

It was Crown chair Helen Coonan’s second day in the hot seat on Tuesday, one day after Crown announced that it was under investigation by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) for “potential non-compliance” with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations at the Crown Melbourne casino.

Coonan was confronted by an email AUSTRAC apparently sent Crown in June 2017, in which the company was advised that Alvin Chau, the boss of the Suncity junket that ran a VIP gambling room at Crown Melbourne, was a foreign ‘politically exposed person’ with a “substantial” criminal history.