The report was made public by this masthead last year and exposed how Star had been infiltrated by criminals. 

Among the issues identified in the report were that it did not classify patrons bringing up to $200,000 cash into its casinos as “high risk”, and nor was it conducting due diligence on high-rollers who gambled millions of dollars on “junket” tours.

Star is legally required to have an anti-money laundering program and to have that program independently reviewed.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Casper Conde said in September 2018 that Star refused a request from financial crimes watchdog AUSTRAC for a copy of the KPMG report by claiming it was under legal professional privilege. That was despite KPMG’s letter of engagement for the review explicitly stating its work did not constitute legal advice.

AUSTRAC has been cracking down on money laundering in the casino sector, and last month took Star’s rival Crown Resorts to court over its “serious and systemic non-compliance” with anti-money-laundering laws”.

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Mr McWilliams told the inquiry that KMPG’s audit identified a “fundamental deficiency” in Star’s anti-money laundering program and confirmed some of his existing concerns. He said Star’s chairman, John O’Neill, also objected to the report’s strong language in the May 2018 meeting, which was attended by all of Star’s directors, with the possible exception of Ben Heap.

KPMG’s Mr Graham and Jeff O’Sullivan, another partner at the audit firm, were sitting outside the meeting room expecting to come in to explain their report but were never invited to do so.

Mr McWilliams said that he and the former head of internal audit, Tarnya O’Neil, felt “under a lot of pressure” after presenting a report which the CEO and directors objected to so strongly.

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At the tense follow-up meeting with KPMG, Mr Bekier was “in a sulk” and presented in an “unprofessional manner”, Mr McWilliams said, while giving the impression that “he didn’t think KPMG knew what they were talking about”.

Mr Graham said that later in 2018, Star accepted it was time to “look forward” and focus on fixing its shortcomings. He said that former Star board member and chair of its audit committee Zlatko Todorcevski apologised to him and Mr O’Sullivan for how they were treated.

However, Mr Graham also said that while conducting his audit, he was not aware of a number of bank accounts the Star held through a subsidiary based in Hong Kong, which was used to lend money to foreign high-rollers.

The inquiry, conducted by Adam Bell, SC, continues.