Star’s former top boss and its legal counsel both breached their director’s duties during the casino’s scandalous Chinese money laundering era, the Federal Court has found.
In a seething judgement, Justice Michael Lee found only partly in favour of the corporate regulator ASIC, which bought the case against a group of Star executives and directors in 2022.
ASIC’s case was filed after news of the explosive money laundering scandal broke at Australia’s second biggest casino.
The culture of senior management was “dysfunctional” and “unethical”, Justice Lee noted in his remarks.
He added that it fell to investigative journalism and a statutory inquiry to expose the extent of the company’s problems, rather than the board or management.
Facing millions in fines
While nine former Star executives and directors faced the case, only two — former CEO Matthias Bekier and its former lawyer Paula Martin — gave evidence on the stand.
Today, Justice Lee found both Mr Bekier and Ms Martin “failed” to exercise their powers and duties as directors, in breach of section 180 of the Corporations Act, between 2017 and 2019.
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-05/star-asic-judgement-china-money-casino/106418064
