Victoria investigation given dire Crown Resorts Limited collapse warning

In Australia and the Victorian royal commission looking into the local gambling license suitability of Crown Resorts Limited has reportedly been told that the firm could face the ‘very real potential’ of going under if its authorization was to be cancelled.

According to a report from Asia Gaming Brief, the Melbourne-headquartered firm included the pessimistic assertion within a written submission given to the official royal commission that is investigating whether it should be allowed to continue offering casino gambling at its 1,604-room Crown Melbourne property. The source detailed that the operator disclosed that the revocation or suspension of its license could moreover trigger a chain of events that may lead to the loss of some 11,600 local jobs.

Serious situation:

Victoria launched its probe into Crown Resorts Limited after the gambling regulator for the neighboring state of New South Wales refused to grant the company’s request for a casino license for its new Crown Sydney development. This rebuke followed the conclusion of an official investigation that had determined the operator may have been guilty of a slew of money laundering allegations tied to its past use of foreign junket firms.

Public profit:

Crown Resorts Limited, which also runs the gambling-friendly Crown Perth development in the state of Western Australia, reportedly told the latest inquiry being led by former Federal Court Judge Ray Finkelstein that the withdrawal of its casino license could furthermore see Victoria miss out on annual tax revenues and community benefit levies annually worth approximately $885 million. The company’s 363-page submission purportedly finished by divulging that any sub-leasing of its Melbourne gambling operation would additionally cause significant disruption before laying out the steps it has already taken and is prepared to implement in the future so as to find its way back to suitability.

Employee empathy:

In its report on the matter and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation cited a claim from one of Crown Resorts Limited’s lawyers, Michael Borsky, that any revocation of the operator’s Victoria casino license could sentence its workforce to ‘enormous disruption and possibly financial hardship’ at a time when many were already ‘living through great uncertainty and hardship’. The representative purportedly went on to pronounce that such a move would likewise have ‘a significant impact on the Victorian tourism industry’ and impact ‘tens of thousands of small shareholders and, indeed, superannuation funds.’

Borsky reportedly told the royal commission…

“More than 20,000 people work across Crown Resorts Limited’s resorts. Over 11,600 of those work in Melbourne. The vast majority of them were of course not complicit in the misconduct.

Definitive deadline:

The Victoria royal commission, which is being shadowed in the state of Western Australia by an analogous inquiry concerning Crown Resorts Limited’s 1,196-room Crown Perth venue, is not reportedly expected to publish its ultimate findings until October 15. However, counsel for the Sydney-listed firm purportedly earlier put forward a number of contrition options that include the payment of unpaid taxes and the implementation of measures that would allow it to continue running whilst simultaneously accounting for its past mistakes.