The Star dumps documents while former executives trash business

The Star Entertainment Group has been rebuked by Adam Bell, SC, after it dumped a swath of documents before his inquiry into the casino operator’s culture two weeks after the summons expiry date.

Bell admonished The Star’s lawyers on Wednesday for forcing the hearing to be adjourned at considerable expense to all involved, and noted that some documents relate directly to former chief financial officer Christina Katsibouba, who is midway through her evidence to the inquiry.

The Star Entertainment Group has been rebuked for dumping a swath of documents well after they were expected.

The Star’s unexpected data drop came after Katsibouba alleged the business had attempted to cook the books.

“[The documents] ought to have been produced in answer to the summons well before 5pm on April 3,” Bell told the lawyers.

“They’ve been produced two weeks late at a time when Ms Katsibouba’s examination is at an advanced stage. The covering letter from the solicitors for The Star entities provided no explanation for the failure to comply with the summons.”

The Star casino may be shut down if Bell finds the business has not adequately reformed its culture since his first inquiry, which in 2022 found extensive anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism failings.

Inquiry head Adam Bell, SC (left), The Star’s former chief financial officer Christina Katsibouba and special manager Nick Weeks.

So far, the second inquiry has heard from Nick Weeks, the special manager who holds The Star’s NSW casino licence while it overhauls its compliance culture, as well as Katsibouba, former company secretary George Hughes and former chief legal officer Betty Ivanoff.

Over the first three days of the hearing, The Star has been accused of falsifying mandatory welfare checks on poker machine players, failing to stop $3.2 million in cash going to gamblers who detected a fault in a gaming machine during a six-week period, and forming a plot to then misconstrue that loss in the company’s half-yearly results in February.

Former chief executive officer Robbie Cooke – who quit last month – has also been accused of failing to be transparent about the group’s debt exposure and earnings position with the broader executive team. Meanwhile, executive chair David Foster has been accused of proposing a class action against the NSW casino regulator and Weeks.

Foster requested a temporary leave of absence from chairing Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s board on Wednesday afternoon following the revelations. Vicki Carter was appointed interim chair.

Katsibouba, Hughes and Ivanoff have all told the inquiry that they flagged their intention to quit The Star months before their formal departures were announced, with Cooke alleged to have expressed surprise and disappointment each time and trying to get the executives to stay.

Hughes said on Wednesday he became uncomfortable with the way business was being conducted in relation to pressure to expedite the group’s 635 remediation steps.

Ivanoff, who also formerly held a legal role at Crown Resorts, said she left The Star just four months into her tenure in September 2023 because she felt undermined and excluded from key decisions at the business.

She said the company stopped presenting her copies of reports by special managers and was also left out of correspondence with the regulator despite being the head of the company’s legal department.

Former Star Entertainment Group head Robbie Cooke in 2022.

“I did not feel like I was being engaged to the fullest extent as the chief legal officer of the organisation,” she said.

“I did feel that I would be brought in and out of topics at whim by the CEO, which I found quite, quite awkward to say the least … I felt that from a transparency perspective, I wasn’t getting the full picture.”

Ivanoff cited three key instances where she was excluded from meetings: the sale of Treasury Brisbane, the Queens Wharf Brisbane joint venture, and taxation discussions with NSW Treasury. She said external law firms, and not The Star chief executive or her colleagues, often informed of the nature of discussions regarding these matters.

“I think when you know that those meetings are taking place, but you are not included in those meetings, it may become a little hard for you to have full visibility over the nature and affairs of the organisation,” Ivanoff said.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.