(Reuters) – Australian casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd said Monday that director John Poynton resigned from the board after a regulator ruled he was not sufficiently independent from the company’s largest shareholder, James Packer.
Poynton ‘s departure is the latest in a series of action by the casino operator’s third – ranked billionaire Packer, after an investigation accused him of widespread issues of money and money management.
Poynton has been on the Crown board since 2018 as a representative of Packer’s private company. After a governor regained control of Packer on the board, Poynton said last month that he was ending his settlement with Packer and would remain an independent director.
But Crown Government Chair Helen Coonan said on Monday that the regulator, the Independent Drinks and Gambling Authority (ILGA), thought it was appropriate for Poynton to resign “because of a lack of independence. which was seen as a result of his previous relationship with Packer.
Poynton agreed to resign “despite the Commissioner not finding poor conclusions in the ILGA inquiry as to suitability, integrity or performance,” Coonan said.
Three Australian states have held or said they would hold Crown investigations since Australian media reports accused the company of doing business with tourists linked to organized crime.
The Crown initially denied the allegations but admitted at a 2020 Sydney inquiry that some of the allegations were true.
Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Edited by Diane Craft, Byron Kaye and Daniel Wallis