Crown Resorts Did Not Rig Pokies, According to Regulator

Australian betting giant Crown Resorts Limited had been facing charges that it had rigged their pokie (slot machines) within their resorts, but those allegations were dismissed by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation this week.

The regulator conducted a review of the allegations and decided there was no merit to them. This is controversial, as two whistleblowers with intimate knowledge of the alleged fix gave accounts to officials, but they were dismissed on a technicality. This led to sharp criticism from MP Andrew Wilkie, who claimed the gaming regulator sold out to the gaming giant.

In a letter to the regulator chair Ross Kennedy, Wilkie said, "Police and regulators often take information from anonymous sources for investigation. It is firmly my view that we agreed your office would take information my office provided-confidentiality and anonymously if that is what the informant wanted-and then investigate it. I'm releasing this information because the public has a right to know how the Victorian state government and its gambling regulator operate."

Crown brings in billions of dollars in revenues annually, with more than 15,000 employees around the world. The company has violated gambling law in Australia in the past, with their latest fine coming in April, when they were found to have "adjusted" machines. They were fined A$300,000 for that infraction.