Crown Casino accused of tampering with poker machines

Shocking allegations of poker machine tampering made by former staff members at Crown Casino have been tabled in Federal Parliament.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie presented parliament with a 30 minute video interview of whistleblowers from Crown Casino in Melbourne.

Crown is accused of forcing staff to tamper with machines, manipulating software to target casual and weekend gamblers and increase player losses.

The whistleblowers allege the casino is active in helping potential terrorists and organised crime figures avoid detection for large transactions.

Shocking allegations of poker machine (pictured is a stock image) tampering made by former staff members at Crown Casino have been tabled in Federal Parliament

Mr Wilkie described damning allegations of sanctioned drug use on casino premises, cover-ups of domestic violence, and allegedly complicit regulatory bodies. 

Poker machine buttons were allegedly shaved down to enable players to play continually, banned under Victorian state law.

‘Whistleblowers allege illegal machine tampering including the disabling of lower bet options and the modifying of buttons to allow prohibited auto-play,’ Mr Wilkie said.

‘There is software manipulation to increase gambler losses even further, in particular on weekends when the number of first-time and casual users in obviously much greater.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie (pictured) presented parliament with a 30 minute video interview of whistleblowers from Crown Casino in Melbourne

Mr Wilkie said the problem was not limited to Crown Casino, and the illegal poker machine practices are widespread across Australia.

‘Although the allegations focus on Crown in Melbourne, they could also suggest a broader pattern of behaviour in the poker machine industry which would obviously have grave implications for people right around Australia,’ he said.

The Member for Denison said the Crown’s toleration and encouragement of the misuse of identification documents to avoid detection by AUSTRAC was a concern. 

‘If these allegations are true, Crown would be facilitating money-laundering for any number of nefarious reasons, like tax fraud, drug running, and even terrorism.’ 

AUSTRAC, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, requires the reporting of transactions of $10,000 or more. 

The identities of the whistleblowers were obscured in the video evidence tabled to parliament, but Mr Wilkie said they had been confirmed by him.

Mr Wilkie provided the testimony as part of his ‘PokieLeaks’ campaign, conducted with Nick Xenophon. 

Daily Mail Australia contacted Crown Casino for comment. 

Crown (pictured, stock image) is accused of forcing staff to tamper with machines, manipulating software to target casual and weekend gamblers and increase player losses

 

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