Crown Melbourne's security head has told a royal commission he was unaware junket operators may be bringing criminal funds into the casino until he was warned by authorities.
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The Southbank casino's security and surveillance executive director Craig Walsh on Friday said he was not concerned about the risk of working with junket operators until speaking to the Australian Federal Police.
He could not recall the date of this meeting, but said it came after a Hong Kong Jockey Club member told him in either 2015 or 2016 that Suncity, Crown's major junket partner, was backed a triad group.
"I had concerns from that point. I had no visibility before that," Mr Walsh told the inquiry into whether Crown can retain a licence for its Melbourne operation.
"I had no visibility about junkets or how they were operating, or how the money was or wasn't coming in.
"We were not involved in junkets at all, other than checking people against our surveillance database on the way in."
The former homicide detective, who worked at Victoria Police for 24 years before joining Crown in 2009, said the AFP warned him they were "coming after" junket operators, which brought high rollers to the casino from overseas, in the belief they were funded by "drug money".
Mr Walsh passed this on to Xavier Walsh, now Crown's chief executive, and the James Packer-backed group's former resorts chief Barry Felstead.
Crown ceased all activities with junket operators in November 2020.
Mr Walsh also revealed the casino had no security presence in junket rooms.
"The business didn't want security in those areas, unless there was a request for it," he told the inquiry.
He said the high roller salons were the last areas in Crown Melbourne to be fitted with facial recognition technology, which can identify people banned from the casino, from 2017 to 2019.
Mr Walsh earlier said Crown Melbourne delayed setting up facial recognition technology for years in order to save money.
"My wishes would have been to roll out it in 2012-13," he told the inquiry.
The royal commission was set up by Daniel Andrews' Labor government after a NSW inquiry found Crown unsuitable to operate its newly built casino in Sydney's Barangaroo.
It continues on Monday with further evidence from Mr Walsh.
Australian Associated Press
