Star linked with organised crime figures and gangsters
A major Star partner has a chequered corporate history and ties to gangsters in Hong Kong and Macau.
Company Chow Tai Fook is a key shareholder in Australia's most expensive casino development and is linked with organised crime figures and people blacklisted by gambling regulators around the world.
An exhaustive investigation undertaken by the ABC has uncovered the underbelly of Chow Tai Fook’s past, with Star the subject of an inquiry into allegations of criminal activity in its Queensland casinos.
Chow Tai Fook, which is controlled by the Cheng family in Hong Kong, was deemed a fit and proper partner by the Queensland government in 2015, as Star began its new $3.8 billion casino development at Queen's Wharf.
However, the probity adviser appointed by the government told ABC Investigations he knew nothing of the company's criminal associations.
"It is news to me," Former Queensland auditor-general Len Scanlan said.
"You know what you know and you don't know what you don't know. I had no knowledge about those parties."
Scanlan said had he known, he would never have backed the proposal.
Chow Tai Fook holds a 25 per cent interest in the casino and owns 50 per cent of the surrounding apartment towers.
Commission is also earned from Star for every VIP gambler it brings to the casino.
The casino is slated to opens in 2023.
Chow Tai Fook has allegedly been associated to Chinese organised crime for decades, including with Macau gangster, Wan Kuok Koi.
Star is under investigation for turning a blind eye to money laundering and criminal infiltration.
"We have to have clean owners and clean operators if we're going to have clean casinos," former chairman of the NSW's independent casino regulator Chris Sidoti said.
"It's as simple as that."
Chow Tai Fook has not responded to the ABC, however Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman, who oversees the Queensland casinos regulator, said the links found in the ABC investigation were "incredibly concerning".
"Any of this new information that comes to light will absolutely be investigated."
The Cheng family companies have previously been found unfit to operate in Australia's casino industry.
The former Queensland Campbell Newman government, which initiated the Queen's Wharf process in 2013 was unaware of the history.
"The Newman government should have been made aware and the Palaszczuk government frankly shouldn't have made the decision they've made because these things were there and they're discoverable," Newman said.
"I'm quite prepared to say I believe the process was tainted."
Irit Jackson, 22nd August 2022
