The Crown Resorts Limited (ASX: CWN) share price dropped as much as 7 per cent to $11 this morning after federal MP Andrew Wilkie used parliamentary privilege to reveal a series of allegations against the Melbourne-based casino and hotel operator.
The allegations said to be made by former employees include the idea that Crown improperly tampered with pokie machines (that are already rigged for losing) and instructed some staff to avoid anti-money laundering reporting rules enforced by the regulator AUSTRAC. The company has also been accused of other other improper or illegal conduct such as tolerating drug use on its premises.
All of these allegations if proven could create more big problems for Crown as a business that is only just exiting the shadow of the arrest and conviction of more than a dozen of its China based employees for "gambling crimes".
The most serious of the latest allegations is that it shirked its reporting obligations to AUSTRAC in a similar vein to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) anti-money laundering scandal accusations.
Crown like CBA operates in a strictly regulated sector and it is likely to come under pressure until it can decisively dismiss the allegations.
