The former head of the NSW casino regulator is warning that Crown's Australian casino licences should be reviewed if any of its staff under arrest in China are convicted of an offence.

Key points: 14 Crown staff, including three Australians, are in detention in Shanghai

14 Crown staff, including three Australians, are in detention in Shanghai Chris Sidoti is warning any convictions of Crown's staff would "require further inquiries to be made" by an Australian regulatory body

Chris Sidoti is warning any convictions of Crown's staff would "require further inquiries to be made" by an Australian regulatory body Crown profits have tumbled after the arrest of its staff in China

Fourteen Crown staff, including three Australians, are in detention in Shanghai following coordinated police raids across China last October.

Chris Sidoti, former chair of the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, told Four Corners any convictions of Crown's staff "would place an authority like a regulatory body in Australia on notice and require further inquiries to be made".

Chris Sidoti warns an investigation will need to be undertaken locally if a conviction is handed down. ( ABC News: Ruth Fogarty )

Crown holds casino licences in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, where its Barangaroo property is scheduled to open in 2021.

Mr Sidoti said action by the regulators reviewing a casino licence could range from a caution or reprimand all the way through to removing a licence. But he flagged that evidence relied on in the Chinese legal system could be problematic.

The arrests of its staff are a blow to Crown's plans for Sydney's Barangaroo casino, which was promoted as a venue for wealthy gamblers — known as VIPs — many of whom come from mainland China.

'I don't think there was an appetite for thorough scrutiny'

The NSW Government has strongly backed Barangaroo but former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell insisted it would be "a VIP facility only" when it was announced.

Mr Sidoti was head of the NSW regulator when the licence was granted. In an interview with Four Corners, he hit out at the failure of the NSW Government to have a full public inquiry before granting the licence.

"There was no public tender process and there was no inquiry at any stage, a public inquiry, as to the public benefit involved in this," he said.

"I think there should have been. I think that casinos are big money-spinners and operating a casino in most circumstances is a licence to print money."

An artist's impression of Crown Sydney casino and hotel (far left), designed by the architecture firm Wilkinson Eyre. ( Supplied )

Parliamentary scrutiny of the Barangaroo decision was "inadequate" and "superficial", Mr Sidoti told Four Corners.

"I don't think there was an appetite for thorough scrutiny. I think there was a wish simply to get the job done in terms of having some basic level of examination and doing the deal," he said.

Since the arrest of its staff in China, Crown's VIP turnover at its Australian casinos has fallen by 45 per cent and its chairman and chief executive have resigned.

Crown's new executive chairman, John Alexander, is launching a major cost-cutting program, including slashing staff in Perth and reducing spending on VIP facilities.

Crown's principal shareholder, billionaire James Packer, has announced he is returning to the Crown board but faces a mandatory probity inquiry by NSW casino regulators before that can take effect.

Staff remain in limbo

After almost five months, the fate of Crown's staff in China remains in limbo as they wait to hear if charges will be laid.

Among those in detention is Jason O'Connor, the Melbourne-based head of Crown's International VIP programs. Four Corners has confirmed that Mr O'Connor was en route to Shanghai airport when he was detained by Chinese police.

Jason O'Connor, pictured here with his family, is currently detained in Shanghai. ( Supplied )

The staff were rounded up following warnings from the Chinese Government that it intended to crack down on foreign casinos marketing to its citizens on the mainland.

Gambling and the promotion of gambling is illegal in China, but foreign casinos had in the past understood they could market their luxury resorts attached to their casinos.

Before the arrest of the Crown staff, travel advice from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade failed to include a warning that the promotion of gambling is illegal in China.

This was only changed after the arrest of the Crown staff in November.

The department's advice now states: "Gambling and the promotion of gambling activities are illegal in China. Anyone found to be in violation of this law may be subject to fines, detention and/or a prison sentence."

Crown Confidential will be broadcast on ABC TV at 8:30pm and can be viewed online.

