In their initial 2020 report to creditors, iProsperity’s liquidators noted at least $8 million in client funds were moved to Crown via company accounts, which Gu then either withdrew or used for gambling. Huang also transferred “in excess of $40 million” into Crown accounts between October 2016 and June 2020, at least a quarter of which was believed to be stolen investor funds.
The development on Friday sets the stage for a potential courtroom battle for Crown, which has been on a reputation rescue offensive since this masthead revealed a series of scandals tying the casino giant to organised crime and money laundering. The Star has also been slapped with new restrictions and penalties following revelations of its own links to international crime.
In 2021, when allegations the iProsperity fraudsters had laundered cash through Crown casinos first emerged, Crown said it launched an inquiry. But the reports were not examined by a royal commission then running into its fitness to hold a gambling licence.
Casinos are often used to clean dirty money by disguising the proceeds of crime as gambling winnings. But casinos are required to monitor for suspicious activity, such as customers depositing and withdrawing cash without visiting the gambling tables.
At an inquiry into The Star casino group’s fitness to hold a gambling licence, it emerged that Gu had no recorded play between June 2011 and December 2017, despite being a patron there. But from late 2017, his buy-in exceeded $84 million, before he fled Australia.
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The Star didn’t close Gu’s account until two weeks after iProsperity collapsed, and waited another year before closing Huang’s account.
The company has denied that it deliberately ignored the risk Gu was using stolen investor money to fund gambling at its casinos.
Crown and The Star did not respond to requests for comment.
IProsperity was one of the biggest players in Australia’s significant investor visa initiative (SIV) – a government program that offers residency visas for those investing at least $5 million here, popular with wealthy Chinese nationals.
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