Media coverage
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Media coverage
Title Explosive allegations about Crown Casino Degree of recognition National Media name/outlet ABC TV 7:30 Media type Television Duration/Length/Size 8 mins 54 secs Country/Territory Australia Date 18/10/17 Description James Packer's Crown casino in Melbourne has today been hit with explosive accusations of illegal conduct. Federal MP Andrew Wilkie first came to prominence as a whistleblower. Today, Wilkie used his Parliamentary privilege to put the spotlight on three other whistleblowers. Former workers of Crown casino claim the business regularly engage in conducts such as tampering with poker machines, ignoring drug use and domestic violence at the venue. Wilkie was given a chance to present a video of interviews with three former crown employees. The faces of the whistleblowers are heavily pixelated with their voices disguised. Wilkie notes the allegations have enough weight to be taken seriously and examined closely. Monash University gambling researcher Charles Livingstone says disabling buttons in poker machines is simple. The Crown workers have described another alleged scam, designed to get around the ban on continuous play on poker machines. Under the rules, gamblers must keep pressing the button on the machine in order to keep betting around every two and a half seconds. One worker says they were asked to get the cap of the button and shave it down. He adds the best tool to do that was a Leatherman. Gambling Researcher from Deakin University, Linda Hancock, says the allegations are extremely serious from a consumer protection point of view. Crown is monitored by inspectors from the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation. However, whistleblowers say when investigators spotted the problem, they only asked the casino to fix it. The commission claimed in a statement that Crown will be thoroughly investigated. Crown workers claim the casino managers instructed staff to split large transactions between different players' accounts in order to mislead AUSTRAC. Producer/Author Stan Grant URL n/a Persons Charles Livingstone