Top Investigator Hired By Crown Resorts

Australian casino operator Crown Resorts has hired a new anti-money laundering adviser in the shape of John Yates who is also the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s (ACIC) Melbourne operations manager.

Mr Yates was responsible for the overview into the investigation into Crown Resorts VIP money laundering case that is focused on Suncity the VIP operator for Crown Resorts.

Some critics have said that this is a major conflict of interest given that currently Crown is in the midst of a suitability review for a casino license in Sydney.

The ACIC has spent three years investigating Suncity and its work with Crown Resort on VIP customers and Mr Yates oversaw most of that investigation. That centred on the possibility that Crown through its lax in procedures on anti-money laundering controls may have facilitated the introduction of Asian organised crime into the system.

The judge presiding over the enquiry recently said that Crowns Melbourne casino operation into anti-money laundering had “reached debacle levels”.

Crown Resorts countered that the hiring of Mr Yates would help Crown implement vital reforms to its anti-money laundering reforms.