Crown casino faces potential disciplinary action, including the possible suspension of its licence, from Victoria’s gambling watchdog after allegedly removing gambling options on some of its poker machines.
The Melbourne casino has been warned it may be in breach of the Gambling Regulation Act by “blanking buttons” on the machines.
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation says Crown should have sought approval before conducting a three-week trial involving 17 of its machines, Crown wrote in a statement to the stockmarket on Monday.
The company disputed the commission’s findings in the statement. It said it did not need approval for the trial, conducted between March and April 2017, and did not breach the gambling act.
“The commission’s view is that the trial involved varying a gaming machine type and certain games in a manner that required the commission’s prior approval,” it said. “Crown Melbourne has recently provided a detailed submission of its position to the commission, which Crown Melbourne understands the commission’s currently considering.”
Last year the independent MP Andrew Wilkie tabled evidence in the federal parliament from three whistleblowers alleging Crown casino deliberately tampered with poker machines by removing gambling button options.
On Monday, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation said it had commenced “disciplinary proceedings against the casino operator”.
“These proceedings relate to the use of blanking of buttons on certain electronic gaming machines on the casino floor,” a short statement from the commission said. “An investigation into this matter was already underway prior to the claims being tabled in parliament.”
Wilkie welcomed the developments on Monday.
“The casino obviously has a case to answer about the blanking of buttons and I’m sure that the truth will come out when the commission finalises its inquiries,” Wilkie said.
The video evidence tabled by Wilkie last year also alleged that the casino allowed cannabis to be smoked in gaming rooms and avoided money laundering rules.
The evidence was collected by Wilkie and the then senator Nick Xenophon as part of their “PokieLeaks” campaign to expose illicit practices in the pokies industry.
The allegations of tampering were denied by Crown Resorts Ltd in a statement to the ASX last year.
