"We rely on all other law enforcing agencies to provide us with background checks and the like," he said. "Any time we do any checking at all that produces something unfavourable, that person or entity is barred from being a customer." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video He would not comment further on why Crown had not uncovered the at-times publicly available information linking its partners to organised crime while inquiries in NSW and Victoria into the revelation were underway. Chinese and Hong Kong court files show that one of Crown's junket partners, Tom Zhou, is an alleged criminal fugitive and the subject of an Interpol "red notice" for financial crime.

Loading The Hong Kong Jockey Club has banned another partner, Suncity, because of alleged links to criminal gangs, while local Crown junket partner and VVIP (very, very important person) Simon Pan runs a brothel in Melbourne which has been linked to organised crime and investigated for suspected human trafficking. Mr Alexander said Crown engaged anti-money laundering consultants Initialism in December last year to review its monitoring programs, and it found Crown was fully compliant. High-roller collapse Crown on Wednesday reported that turnover from VIP high-rollers collapsed 26 per cent, to $38 billion, in the 12 months to June 30, while main floor gaming revenue was flat.

Rival operator Star Entertainment, which has casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, last week reported a 35 per cent fall in VIP turnover. Major junket group Suncity, which has worked with Crown and Star, started scaling back its operations in Australia last week, and Crown chief financial officer Ken Barton said Crown's reliance on junkets in the future was an "open question". The group has come to rely almost entirely on junkets since 2016 when 19 of its staff were arrested in China, where gambling or promoting gambling is illegal. But Mr Barton said he expected its business model would "evolve" and move back to more direct relationships with foreign gamblers. Crown Casino in Melbourne. Credit:AAP “I think it’s an open question: are there other markets that open up? Are there other channels that open up? Mr Barton said.

Industry figures suggested Crown's new 20 per cent shareholder, Hong Kong casino group Melco Resorts, could step in to fill some of the void with its large database of high rollers. However, another Crown watcher questioned why Melco would redirect customers from its own casino in Macau, where it would keep 100 per cent of the profit, to Australia, where it would get 20 per cent and pay a higher tax rate. Melco's purchase of its $1.76 billion stake in Crown is to be examined by a NSW gambling watchdog probity investigation. A focus is expected to be that Crown's Sydney casino licence forbids some entities invested in Melco from investing in Crown. Mr Alexander said the VIP rout did not dampen the prospects of its Barangaroo casino, due to open in 2021, with Sydney's high-roller market still larger today than it was when it established its business case in 2014. The group on Wednesday reported that its full-year net profit after tax had fallen 28 per cent to $401.8 million.