He is the third board member to resign this week
Crown Casino director Andrew Demetriou has resigned following the scathing report by the NSW gaming authority.
He is the third board member to resign this week following the fallout from Crown’s application to run the new $2.2bn casino complex in Sydney's Barangaroo.
The inquiry concluded that Crown was unsuitable to run the resort and made damning remarks about behaviour of board members.
Commissioner Patricia Bergin, a former chief judge in the NSW Supreme Court, said Crown needed to make significant cultural changes to its board after the inquiry exposed allegations of money laundering.
She described the board's slow response to the allegations as “corporate arrogance”.
According to The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, it took more than a year after the allegations emerged for Crown to appoint an external investigator.
Only after the inquiry began were board directors given specific training in compliance and their obligations.
In a statement, Demetriou said he would defend his reputation against the comments directed at him.
“I have always been a team player and supported the greater good,” he said.
“I will therefore step down from the Crown Resorts board to give Crown the best possible chance of becoming suitable to the NSW regulator.
“In taking this decision, I believe the comments directed at me in the report are unfair and unjust, and I will defend my reputation at every opportunity.”
The long-awaited findings of the NSW's Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) were released this week following the investigation.
Demetriou was criticised for using notes during his appearance at the inquiry to answer questions about Crown’s corporate culture.
Earlier this week, Michael Johnston and Guy Jalland resigned from Crown, with pressure mounting on chief executive Ken Barton.
This morning, Crown release a statement saying Barton was considering his position after rumours that he is set to quit.
James Packer's company Consolidated Press Holdings, one of Crown's biggest shareholders, cut ties with the company almost immediately after the release of the report.
Despite resigning from the board in 2018, the report said Packer had significant influence over Crown's operations.
