Australia court approves $300M money laundering fine for Blackstone’s Crown Resorts

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The company, dominated by billionaire founder James Packer before he agreed to sell last year, agreed to the payment in May after allegations over wide-ranging governance problems sparked inquiries in all the states in which it operated, plus an investigation by the financial crime watchdog.

But the fine needed the sign-off of the federal court, which approved the penalty, Australia’s third-largest corporate fine, on Tuesday.

“The penal orders reflect the serious and unacceptable nature of the contraventions”, judge Michael Lee said in a ruling.

The fine was “appropriate to deter both repetition of contravening conduct by Crown or … by other reporting entities who may seek to prefer profit over proper risk management”.

Lee added.

Crown, which was bought by Blackstone (NYSE:BX) after the events at the centre of the scandal took place, said in a statement that the court approval brings an end to the historical anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing “failures at Crown”.

Blackstone was not immediately available for comment.

The fine takes Crown’s total penalties to A$680 million since it was rocked by accusations of ignoring organised crime and employee safety in hearings since 2020.

($1 = 1.4959 Australian dollars)