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A self-proclaimed fortune-teller accused of heading a financial crime syndicate that police say has defrauded Australia’s major banks of hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly laundered almost $1 million as a VIP customer at The Star, despite the gambling giant knowing she was unemployed and living off an $800 a fortnight pension.
The state’s casino and gambling regulators, the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) and Liquor and Gaming NSW, have launched an investigation into whether The Star breached its internal controls in allowing accused Penthouse Syndicate ringleader Anya Phan, 53, to allegedly launder about $800,000 at the Sydney casino.
Self-proclaimed fortune-teller and feng shui master Anya Phan allegedly laundered about $800,000 at The Star casino while receiving disability support pension payments.Credit: Artwork: Monique Westermann
The Herald can reveal Phan was able to gamble the fortune despite being subject to several due diligence checks carried out on high-risk customers, including as recently as January this year, in which she identified her $800 fortnightly pension payment as her main income. Phan, a regular customer at The Star since 2008, remained a platinum member after the January check.
The revelations raise questions about what anti-money laundering measures the embattled Star Entertainment Group’s has in place despite the mammoth penalties previously imposed on it, including more than $100 million in fines from the NICC, for its failure to stem criminal activity and money within its casinos.
The regulators’ investigation will scrutinise whether the Sydney casino’s internal systems failed to detect signs of Phan’s alleged money laundering, and if appropriate action was taken. Regulators will also scrutinise the internal controls at Sydney’s Crown casino, where Phan is also alleged to have laundered money.
The probe will mount further pressure on Star Entertainment, which is facing a possible fine of up to $400 million from the federal financial crimes watchdog, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), and whose Darling Harbour casino has teetered on the brink of closure since its licence to operate in Sydney was suspended in October 2022 after an independent inquiry into its suitability.
Phan has been charged facilitating $70 million worth of fraud for the Penthouse Syndicate.
Strike Force Myddleton detectives investigating the Penthouse Syndicate allege Phan, who was arrested last month at her Dover Heights mansion, laundered the cash, alleged to be the proceeds of crime earned from the group’s wide-ranging frauds, over several months this year. On one day, Phan, whose game of choice was baccarat, allegedly laundered $45,000 in three hours.
Police say Phan assumed control of the Penthouse Syndicate after its alleged head, Shanghai-born 38-year-old Bing “Michael” Li, was arrested in July in the penthouse of the Crown’s residential tower in Barangaroo.
A months-long Herald investigation into the syndicate has previously revealed allegations the group defrauded National Australia Bank of more than $150 million through fraudulent business and home loans used to build a luxury property empire across Sydney. Police allege the syndicate has defrauded the country’s major banks and other financiers of more than $250 million with the help of corrupt bank employees, solicitors, mortgage brokers, real estate agents and property developers.
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Phan has been charged with facilitating $70 million worth of fraud for the syndicate, alleged to be one of the biggest fraud and money laundering operations in Australian history, allegedly using her influence within the Vietnamese community to recruit mules. She has also been charged with 13 counts of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime with intent to conceal – some of which are related to the alleged money laundering at The Star.
In June, Phan purchased her $13.75 million Dover Heights home through her company, Phan Group Holdings Pty Ltd, with what police allege was a fraudulently obtained NAB mortgage.
By the time The Star identified what it considered to be suspicious activity in September, reported Phan to regulators, and deactivated her account, the 53-year-old had allegedly laundered about $800,000 at the casino. The Star did not formally ban Phan until several days after her arrest was made public.
At the time of Phan’s arrest, financial crimes squad commander Gordon Arbinja said Phan had been unemployed since moving to Australia from Vietnam in 2001, and had been receiving disability support pension payments for the past two decades.
“She laundered the money by gambling it through casinos within Sydney,” Arbinja alleged last month.
Phan’s platinum membership status gave her access to gamble at Sovereign (pictured), which The Star describes as Australia’s largest private gaming room.Credit: The Star
The platinum status Phan held is The Star’s second-highest membership, behind the invite-only Diamond tier, and allows members access to Sovereign, which the casino describes as Australia’s largest private gaming room.
Last October, the NICC fined The Star a further $15 million for “serious breaches” of internal controls after a second inquiry by Adam Bell, SC, uncovered ongoing compliance failures. The oversight of the casino by a state government-appointed manager was extended until March this year. That management has been extended until at least March 31, 2026, while The Star’s licence remains suspended.
Facing financial collapse this year, Star Entertainment was given a recently finalised $300 million lifeline by US-based gambling giant Bally’s Corporation and Star’s majority shareholder, pub and pokies billionaire Bruce Mathieson.
Responding to questions about The Star’s handling of Phan’s case, a spokesperson for the casino said it routinely co-operated with authorities and gambling regulators “to monitor, mitigate, manage and report on financial crime risk”.
The Star’s internal profile of Phan listed her as unemployed.Credit: Bloomberg
They said, although they could not comment on Phan’s case specifically, the casino “has and will continue to co-operate with NSW Police in this investigation”. The Star did not answer questions about why Phan retained her platinum membership status after she provided details of her income to the casino.
The Crown did not answer questions about Phan’s status, whether it knew she was unemployed while gambling there, or if it had reported her to police. It banned Phan several days after detectives arrested her.
In September, former NAB employee Timotius Donny Sungkar was arrested and charged with facilitating around $10 million worth of fraudulent business loans for the syndicate. Sungkar has been remanded in custody, while several other NAB employees remain under investigation.
Detectives have to date charged 20 alleged Penthouse Syndicate members, with more arrests expected.
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