A proposed $1.3 million penalty against Star's former head could be derailed by the corporate watchdog's decision to settle negligence cases against two other executives for much smaller amounts.
Former Star chief executive Matthias Bekier failed to inform the board of suspicious conduct committed by Chinese junket operator Suncity in 2018 and 2019, the Federal Court found in March.
Mr Bekier and former Star general counsel Paula Martin have been successfully sued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for breaches of their duties.
The watchdog is seeking a $1.3 million fine against Mr Bekier and a $1.1 million fine against Ms Martin.
But Mr Bekier's barrister Justin Williams SC pointed out on Thursday this was much higher than penalties imposed of $180,000 on former chief casino officer Greg Hawkins and $60,000 on former chief financial officer Harry Theodore.
Arguing these penalties were smaller due to some discount offered because of time, costs and court resources saved was a "truly Herculean effort", Mr Williams told the Federal Court.
The penalties now proposed by the corporate regulator against Mr Bekier and Ms Martin were manifestly excessive and would undermine public confidence in the justice system if approved, he argued.
Justice Michael Lee said he was troubled about how to approach the truly massive discount ASIC had given to Mr Hawkins and Mr Theodore.
"It just strikes me as intuitively unfair that such an extraordinarily large disparity exists," he said.
Mr Williams argued the former chief executive should be penalised $240,000 or the combined total of the fines issued to Mr Hawkins and Mr Theodore.
While ASIC wants Mr Bekier to be banned from acting as a director for eight years, Star's ex-boss has pushed for a period of 18 months.
Ms Martin's barrister Kate Morgan SC did not say what penalty her client sought.
The impacts ASIC's lawsuit had on the ex-general counsel's health in addition to her inability to find further work as a solicitor should reduce the fine imposed, Ms Morgan argued.
Ms Martin did not object to an order barring her from acting as a director, leaving the period up to the court.
ASIC has asked that she be disqualified for seven years.
Mr Hawkins and Mr Theodore were banned for 18 months and nine months, respectively.
In March, Justice Lee found Mr Bekier and Ms Martin did not inform Star's board of the risks posed by Suncity in 2018 and 2019.
This conduct included bundles of cash being delivered to the service desk in blue cooler bags or cardboard boxes and junket staff hiding under blankets to stay out of the view of CCTV cameras.
Both were also aware of a misleading email to lender National Australia Bank in 2020 about concerns gamblers were using their China UnionPay cards for gambling, which was prohibited by the foreign card scheme.
Junkets and their international VIP players were highly lucrative to Star, bringing in tens of billions of dollars to the business annually.
A decision on the penalties will be handed down at a later date.
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Australian Associated Press
