Star Entertainment has condemned the “deplorable” behaviour of...

Star Entertainment has condemned the “deplorable” behaviour of its former chief executive and chairman for their role in agitating the casino regulator in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the future of its lucrative Sydney precinct.

Bret Walker, SC, appearing for Star, told an independent inquiry there was no likelihood the remaining board directors and executives of Star would ever attempt to fight the NSW Independent Casino Commission again. He conceded the actions of former chairman David Foster and chief executive Robbie Cooke had left “scorch marks”.

“All those matters are in the past,” Mr Walker told the inquiry on Wednesday. “They are so striking in their particular facts that they present no inherent likelihood at all of repetition, nor do they show any pattern of conduct.”

“The responses to manager’s reports [and] the private and inappropriate posturing ought to be regarded as deplorable but not material in weighing adversely against the suitability into the future of … our clients,” he said.

The NSW inquiry, called by the Independent Casino Commission and run by Adam Bell, SC, is considering evidence that will help it decide whether Star has done enough to change its culture since its licence was first revoked in 2022.

Mr Bell’s first report in 2022 found Star was unsuitable to hold its licence, describing its operations as “a case study of unethical conduct and cultural failure” that may have evaded taxes and facilitated $900 million of banned gambling transactions.

Over four months, the first inquiry revealed Star hid criminal gang-linked junket operator Suncity’s illegal cash cage and allowed it to operate a secret gambling room.

The second inquiry into Star has focused on the falsification of welfare checks on customers; bulk approval of source-of-wealth checks for high-risk customers; and a $3.2 million loss from a so-called malfunctioning cash-in, cash-out terminal.

It has also scrutinised the relationship between Mr Cooke, Mr Foster and the regulator, exposing a series of explosive text messages that implied a level of contempt for the regulator and the manager overseeing the Sydney casino, Nick Weeks.

The deterioration of the relationship was exacerbated in December by a letter addressed to Mr Weeks that featured bolded and underlined rebuttals to two reports on how the Star was progressing with remediation. Within the month, the regulator had expressed no confidence in Mr Cooke (Mr Cooke left his position in April).

Mr Walker said Star agreed that Mr Cooke and Mr Foster did not have a desirable relationship with the regulator or Mr Weeks.

Imtiaz Ahmed, SC, who is also acting for Star, described Mr Cooke as a “wartime president” who may have saved the company but lacked skills in other areas.

“There was undoubtedly a narrative that emerged in the latter half of 2023 of it being us in them in relation to the regulator,” Mr Ahmed said. “That’s coupled with the fact that Mr Cooke appears to have had a management style that resulted in the siloing of information within the company. We say that those are all matters that have that are likely to have impeded the cultural form within the company.”

In his final remarks to the inquiry, Mr Walker attempted to turn issues such as the technology failure of the cash-in, cash-out terminal and the falsification of welfare checks into evidence that Star handled matters appropriately, even if slowly.

“There’s no varnishing of the most undesirable state of affairs,” he said regarding the falsification of welfare checks on customers that had gambled for more than three hours.

“On balance, you will be satisfied that the response … was appropriately deep and broad, and has resulted in staff misconduct being dealt with not only as to the termination of individual employment but more to the point of corrective and responsive recruitment and training.”

Mr Walker took issue with suggestions that Mr Bell would need to have “clear and convincing evidence” about Star’s operations to determine its capacity to run the Sydney precinct, warning doing so would be committing a “serious error”. “That eliminates what might be regarded as the ordinary vicissitudes and the inherent risks of trading in a business where you don’t control your customers or costs,” he said.

Star has conceded in its closing submission that it is not suitable to operate a casino in its own right. It argues it should be found suitable to run its casino licence subject to conditions and circumstances where Mr Weeks’ term is extended.

The chairman, chief executive, chief financial officer, chief legal officer and chief customer officer of Star are among a long list of executives that have left the company since the inquiry was first announced by chief commissioner Philip Crawford in February.

Outside the inquiry, the casino operator is dealing with legal action instigated by Greek Cypriot Roys Poyiadjis over the sale of its luxury yacht and a looming multimillion-dollar AUSTRAC fine for breaches of counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering laws. Its plans to bring fine diner Tetsuya’s into the Sydney precinct have also fallen over.

Star’s shares closed at 44¢ on Wednesday – down 17 per cent this year.