Star Entertainment Fined A$260M Over Money Laundering Failures
On Wednesday 28 October 2026, a Federal Court judge split the difference between the A$100 million Star said it could survive and the A$400 million the regulator wanted. The Spirit has seen many tables where the house looked away, and this one just got its bill.
Two numbers sat on the table when Justice Cameron Moore walked into the Federal Court of Australia. The financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC wanted A$400 million. The Star Entertainment Group offered A$100 million and warned that anything above that could push it into liquidation. On Wednesday 28 October 2026, the judge picked a number in between: A$260 million, about US$183 million.
The bill splits into A$195 million for The Star Sydney and A$65 million for The Star Queensland. It covers the stretch from November 2016 to November 2022, when the court found Star failed to run a compliant anti-money laundering program and failed to properly monitor high-risk customers. More than 1,200 customers gambled through channels that carried serious laundering risk. Justice Moore put it in one line: Star put profit ahead of compliance, and did it on a large scale.
The profit is the part that stings. Star conceded in court that it took more than A$1.3 billion in gross gaming revenue from high-risk customers over those six years. WATATATATAFAK.
Why not the full A$400 million? Justice Moore said he weighed deterrence against the casino's finances, and that the fine would have been higher without the remediation now under way. He also noted that Star has already paid about A$200 million in penalties for overlapping conduct. The company, controlled by US group Bally's since it was pulled back from administration in April 2025, closed Tuesday at 13 cents a share, against A$3.70 in late 2021. Apparentlu, a blind eye is expensive to keep open.
The payment plan is four equal instalments over 19 months, so A$65 million each, with the first due within 28 days. Chair Soo Kim told the Australian Financial Review that Star can pay it. The company went into a trading halt while management works out what the fine means for the business.
Nineteen months, four payments, one calendar. The Spirit has circled the first date.
Will Star Entertainment enter administration by 31 March 2027?
Settles on 31 March 2027. Yes if The Star Entertainment Group announces to the ASX that it has entered administration or liquidation on or before 31 March 2027, No otherwise, according to ASX company announcements on that date.
