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Crown Resorts’ Perth-based director John Poynton has resigned following a scathing report from the NSW gambling regulator’s probe into money laundering at its Melbourne and Perth casinos.
Mr Poynton is the latest of several key figures to have quit from the embattled casino giant.
His resignation comes after pressure mounted on Crown Resorts director Harold Mitchell to resign as investigations continued.
Mr Mitchell stepped down after other directors, including chief executive Ken Barton, quit after scathing findings from the lengthy inquiry into the shocking allegations deemed the company unsuitable to retain the gaming licence for its new Sydney casino.
The bombshell report also highlighted how its biggest shareholder James Packer’s influence on the company had “disastrous” consequences.
There has since been a wave of resignations.
The reclusive billionaire’s Consolidated Press Holdings nominees Guy Jalland and Michael Johnston stepped down from the board and were followed by high-profile director and former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou.
Crown Resorts executive chairman John Alexander quit in January.
The Victorian government last week announced a royal commission into Crown Resorts’ suitability to hold a gaming licence for its Melbourne casino.
The inquiry, headed by former Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin, found the gambling giant unsuitable to hold the gaming licence for its new venue at Barangaroo in Sydney on the back of evidence that organised crime-linked money laundering occurred at Crown Melbourne and Perth.
“Establishing a royal commission will ensure the most appropriate access to information regarding Crown Melbourne’s suitability to hold the casino licence given the commission’s powers to compel witnesses and documentation,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’s office said in a statement on Monday.
More to come
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