Australian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has publicly accused casino operator Crown Resorts of tampering with video poker machines (pokies) and facilitating money laundering.

On Wednesday, Wilkie (pictured) rose in the House of Representatives’ federation chamber to inform his fellow legislators that whistleblowers had come forward to reveal potentially criminal acts by Crown Melbourne staff, as well as the alleged complicity of gaming regulators in the state of Victoria.

In a three-minute statement quoting the whistleblowers, Wilkie claimed Crown Melbourne staff had engaged in “illegal machine tampering including the disabling of lower bet provisions and the modifying of buttons to allow prohibited autoplay, both of which increase gambling losses.” Casino managers allegedly ordered Crown Melbourne staff to perform these modifications.

Wilkie further alleged that the machines’ software had been altered to increase gamblers’ losses, most often during “a weekend when the number of naïve first-time casual users is obviously much greater.”