Former Star Entertainment CEO Matt Bekier has been hit with a $700,000 fine and a six-year ban from managing a corporation after a Federal Court found he breached his director duties over the company's shocking anti-money laundering failures.
But here's the kicker: Justice Michael Lee made it clear he wanted to throw the book at Bekier — and former legal chief Paula Martin — but felt his hands were tied by the securities watchdog's own soft touch with two other executives.
"Save for ASIC's leniency in reaching an objectively generous deal with (Greg) Hawkins and (Harry) Theodore, who engaged in comparable misconduct, the penalties I would have imposed on Mr Bekier and Miss Martin would have been different," Justice Lee said in his judgment on Wednesday.
Martin copped a seven-year ban and a $400,000 fine. The pair were also ordered to jointly cover 45 per cent of ASIC's legal costs.
ASIC had been pushing for an eight-year ban for Bekier and a $1.3 million penalty. For Martin, the regulator wanted $1.1 million and a seven-year ban. Justice Lee settled on a harsher ban for Martin because of the "very serious departure" from her role as the group's top legal officer — she failed to tell the board about how cash was being brought in via suitcases and paper bags to a VIP room operated by notorious high-roller tour operator Suncity.
Star's former chief casino officer Greg Hawkins and former CFO Harry Theodore settled with ASIC before the case went to trial, accepting fines and corporate bans. Those deals set the benchmark that limited Justice Lee's options.
Justice Lee also delivered a scathing assessment of Star's board, even though he cleared them of actual wrongdoing in March.
He warned against misreading their exoneration: "It's therefore important not to misunderstand the effect of the dismissal of ASIC's claim against non-executive directors. Their exoneration didn't involve any endorsement of the quality of the board's governance culture or practices during the relevant period."
The case — which started in December 2022 — centred on a damning KPMG report that detailed how Star was falling short of its anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing obligations. Bekier was found to have breached his duties in how he handled that report and his response to information about Suncity and Salon 95, the VIP room that catered directly to high-rollers.
Martin's failure was even more direct: she didn't tell the board about alarming reports that casino staff were obscuring surveillance cameras and that cash was being brought into Salon 95 in suitcases and paper bags.
Justice Lee noted that both Bekier and Martin showed a lack of insight into their wrongdoing. "It's one thing to regret the consequences of having been investigated and sued; it's another to demonstrate an appreciation of why the conduct found by the Court involved serious failures in the discharge of duties owed by senior officers of a casino operator," he said.
Star Entertainment has been on the brink of collapse since the revelations. The company's casinos in Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast have been under intense scrutiny, with regulators in New South Wales and Queensland launching separate inquiries. The company's share price has cratered, and it has been forced to sell assets and raise capital to stay afloat.
Bekier resigned as CEO in 2022 after the first round of damaging findings. He had been with Star since 2011, taking the top job in 2018. Martin left the company in 2023.
The penalties bring ASIC's long-running case against Star's senior executives and board to a close. But the company's future remains uncertain, with its casino licenses under review and a mountain of debt still to navigate.