Background: Star Entertainment Group are the $4 billion entertainment company behind the Star Casino - aka the biggest casino in Sydney before Crown came about in 2020.

What happened: Sydney's Star Casino is huge. It's got around 1500 pokies machines, 13 restaurants and 8 bars. The Star has largely flown under the radar...mostly because the Crown Casino has been front and centre over the last few years.

What else: New media reports allege that the Star Casino enabled money laundering by wooing high-rollers...who had possible links to organised crime. And, it could lose its casino licence as a result. Eeep!

So what's the key learning?

💡Money laundering is the process of turning dirty money (aka money that's been generated from criminal activity) into clean money (aka money that's come from a legit source). And it's illegal.

💡Crims do this because they can't just deposit huge chunks of cash into their bank account. Often, criminal organisations will set up cash-based businesses called "fronts" (i.e. restaurants or cafés). But gambling has become another popular way to 'wash' the money.

💡Investors know that compliance and regulation is at the core of gambling businesses (anti-money laundering legislation anyone?). So it's no surprise that Star's share price dropped by over 20% yesterday after this news.