NSW’s powerful casino cop lands on lending side hustle

One of NSW’s most powerful public servants has a side hustle overseeing a little-known finance firm that charges desperate borrowers up to 25 per cent for late repayments.

The Chief Commissioner of the NSW Independent Casino Commission, Philip Crawford, considered one of the state’s top integrity officers, is also the chairman of Juel Litigation, a small Sydney-based lender that specialises in financing legal actions that banks won’t touch, including personal injury, family law and will disputes.

Unlike class action funders, the loans written by Juel involve full recourse against the person involved in the legal action.

This means they have to be repaid regardless of the outcome of the case.

Because of the risky nature of the loans, Juel charges sky-high interest rates and multiple recurring fees. Juel also provides bridging finance to small businesses, with headline rates pushing 20 per cent.

The Crown in Sydney was this week given its conditional casino licence back. Picture: Tom Parrish

As well as the full-time role at NICC, Mr Crawford is chairman of Juel and a member of the lender’s credit committee and legal review panel. A former insolvency lawyer, Mr Crawford is not registered as a director of the lending company.

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The Juel appointment, which goes back several years, is not disclosed in the NICC’s annual report or website, or his personal LinkedIn page.

A NICC spokeswoman said Mr Crawford’s personal disclosures and conflict of interest declarations have been recorded under board audit committees and NSW government appointment guidelines.

A spokeswoman for NICC said Mr Crawford had never had to raise Juel as a conflict.

A spokeswoman for David Harris, NSW’s Gaming and Racing Minister who oversees the NICC, said Mr Crawford “has made the appropriate declarations and no conflicts have been raised”.

In 2016, Mr Crawford was appointed to the part-time role as the former chair of one of NSW’s top authorities, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Association.

In late 2022 he moved into the full-time role of chief commissioner of the powerful and newly created NICC.

The role came with enhanced powers granted by the NSW parliament to over the state’s two casinos and is understood to be paid up to $450,000 annually. The position is for a fixed period, and Mr Crawford’s term expires in 2026.

Juel’s current personal interest rate is set at 18 per cent per annum, but this escalates in the event of late payments or default.

The firm charges a set upfront fee of $1650 for loans below $100,000. For larger loans, a 2 per cent application fee applies.

It also charges $1200 a year for loan administration and a range of other fees.

In family law cases, it will lend up to $1m or 50 per cent of the value of the total cash and property settlement pool. For will disputes, it will lend up to $750,000 or half of the borrowers’ share of the total estate value.

Juel positions itself as filling a gap in financing. It says borrowers can find it “almost impossible to obtain additional funds from traditional lenders to fund litigation or household and business cashflow” impacted by litigation.

“Needing additional funds for your householder or business because you are involved in litigation is news not every bank manager receives well,” the lender tells prospective borrowers.

Security demanded for the loans include mortgages over property, charges over assets and agreement from solicitors that proceeds from settlement or judgments will repay loans.

In the event of late payments or default, collection and other fees will be charged to the borrower. This penalty interest is understood to be up to 25 per cent.

The NSW Independent Casino Commission has called a 15-week inquiry into The Star and whether it is suitable to hold a casino licence. Picture: Bloomberg

Juel did not respond to requests to comment. It also declined to make available to The Weekend Australian a copy of its product disclosure statement.

Juel is a licensed credit provider through ASIC. There are no suggestions by The Weekend Australian that it has not complied with national credit laws.

At NICC, Mr Crawford is responsible for the probity and ongoing regulation of Sydney’s two casinos – Crown and Star Entertainment.

This week, he handed Crown its license back following a two-year period where the casino was required to prove it was fit for purpose. This followed damning findings about what went happened at Crown’s Melbourne and Perth-based casinos, including money laundering and criminal activity. Crown’s Barangaroo casino opened in Sydney under provisional supervision in 2022.

The NICC has called a second royal commission-style investigation into Crown’s rival, Star Entertainment, with the Pyrmont-based casino operator trying to prove it has overhauled its culture after damning findings in a review 18 months ago.

It emerged this week that Mr Crawford had triggered a series of events that led to the ousting of Star’s chief executive Robbie Cooke. Last December, Mr Crawford told Star’s board he had lost confidence in Mr Cooke. The CEO resigned three months later, and at the time Mr Cooke declared that staying in the role would be a roadblock to Star getting its casino licence back.