The group has been on the brink of collapse for months but staved off administrators by offloading its 50 per cent stake in a new Brisbane precinct and a $250 million short-term bridging loan. The Australian Financial Review can reveal Bally’s Corporation, which has 19 casinos across 11 American states, sent representatives to Australia to meet Star and visit its casinos last week, and has also met key Star shareholders and lenders. The Australian Financial Review reported that the company had failed to raise the funding required to meet near-term payments, including for payroll, which puts the company at serious risk of running out of cash. SYDNEY – Australia’s biggest listed casino operator, Star Entertainment Group, once had it all.
Additionally, the company only stopped dealing with Suncity and Chau when he was arrested in 2021, despite being alerted about potential AML risks as early as 2019. In court filings, Star admitted that from 2018 to 2021, at least $1 billion came from junkets known to pose "higher" than normal AML risks. Much of the shortcomings outlined in the investigation relate to Star’s dealings with Chinese-linked junket operators. Chief among them was the infamous Suncity Group, whose former chairman Alvin Chau is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence in Macau on illegal gambling charges. The deal falling over would leave Star saddled with those costs, as it attempts to turn its business around with the backing of Bally's.