Australian Federal Court Grants Narrow Exemption to Disqualified Former Star CEO Matt Bekier

Australia’s Federal Court has granted former Star Entertainment Group CEO Matt Bekier leave to manage one specific company despite a six-year disqualification from all corporate management roles imposed in June.

Justice Elizabeth Cheeseman handed down the decision on Friday. She found limited risk in the arrangement because of the confined activities involved and conditions placed on operations.

Parameters of the Exemption

The leave applies only to Leliwa Holdings Pty Limited, owned equally by Bekier and his wife Melinda, who are its sole directors. The company functions exclusively as the corporate trustee of their self-managed superannuation fund. It carries no debt, employs no staff, and maintains limited dealings with third parties.

Justice Cheeseman stated that the seriousness of the conduct and findings on Bekier’s insight weighed against leave. However, she ruled that “the confined nature of Leliwa’s activities and the conditions imposed substantially limit the risks arising from Mr Bekier’s management of it.” She added that the role “is materially different from the senior executive role in which the contraventions occurred” and “is confined to a company whose only function is to act as trustee of the family self-managed superannuation fund.”

The order does not lift the disqualification or affect Bekier’s pending appeal. Bekier was disqualified and fined AU$700,000 (US$494,000) after the court found he breached his duty of care in dealings with junket operator Suncity Group and the National Australia Bank.

ASIC Action and Money-Laundering Allegations

The penalties arose from civil proceedings ASIC launched in 2022 against 11 current and former Star executives. The regulator alleged insufficient attention to money-laundering risks inherent in casino operations serving international customers. Specific claims involved dealings with Macau-based Suncity, then Star’s largest junket.

Suncity turnover with Star rose from AU$2.1 billion in 2017 to AU$4 billion in 2018 and AU$5.9 billion in 2019. The junket ceased operations in December 2021 after the arrest of its CEO Alvin Chau. The same court cleared seven other former directors and executives, including former Chairman John O’Neill.

As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the Federal Court observed that there remains little indication Bekier has grappled with why his conduct represented a serious departure from the standards expected of a casino CEO.

The ruling illustrates how courts distinguish the risk profile of a private family-trust trustee from that of a listed casino operator when weighing relief from disqualification orders.

Reporting: Inside Asian Gaming

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