Melbourne’s Crown Casino before being shot in the face’, ABC News, 12 December 2014. 15 Dylan Welch, ‘Drug trafficker and high roller Pete Tan Hoang laundered up to $1 billion through Melbourne’s Crown Casino before being shot in the face’, ABC News, 12 December 2014.
Brownlow 2018: Highlights from the Red Carpet
All rise as the QWEEN of Melbourne returns to the red carpet. Rebecca Judd, you were missed. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
THERE isn’t a square inch of taffeta left in Spotlight. Not a false lash left in all of Melbourne. And every spray tan gun within 100km of Crown Casino has been drained to its very core.
While I would rather watch Keith Urban painstakingly GHD his hair than sit through a telecast of the Brownlow Medal, when Rupert Murdoch himself asked me to compile some memorable red carpet moments from 2018’s night of nights, I knew I could not refuse.*
(*It wasn’t Rupert Murdoch who asked.)
I do not watch AFL and nor do I know who a single solitary player is, let alone their respective WAGs. I enlisted a trusty informant to give me their actual names.
What I do have is eyeballs — which means I am highly qualified to discuss which frocks floated my sartorial boat, or sunk it like ye old Titanic. Let’s discuss:
Ooh, ooh! I know this one! Pick me, pick me!! It’s Rebecca Judd! Apparently, this was her return to the red carpet, to the Iron Throne if you will, and I dare anyone to outshine the QWEEN of all the wags.
If doilies are your thing, then I’m picking you’re going to love this number. Haberdashery, aisle 5.
To be fair, the fit is perfection and she looks like a goddess. What the heck else did you expect?
Chris Judd knows his place on the red carpet. Right behind the QWEEEN of Melbourne. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
It’s not easy to attract attention among a group of beautiful WAGS. (What is the collective noun for a gaggle of WAGS? A herd? A murder? A pride?). One way to cut through the noise is to wear a train made from the feathers of 30,000 geese, muppets and fraggles. That’ll learn ’em real good.
On the plus side, if you get a little snoozy after the 7th hour of the awards, you can simply curl up on your own in-built mattress, wrap your goose-down doona around you, and take a little nanna nap. Pack the Nasonex in case of allergies.
Photographers struggled to capture Logan Shine’s entire dress in their frame. Her partner Jason Johannisen did his valiant best to be loud enough to remain in the image too. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
I’m not sure what is going on here, but I would like to send my very best wishes to the bride and groom.
Maybe it’s a destination wedding for Gold Coast’s Touk Miller and Maddie Leek. Picture: Michael KleinSource:News Corp Australia
I’m totally crushing on this silver, glo-mesh wonder. Isn’t it a disco dream? 11/10 would wear.
Jessica Todd (the partner of Max Gawn of Melbourne) wouldn’t be out of place in Studio 54. Picture: David Crosling / AAPSource:AAP
Another one of my red-hot favourites. This would not be out of place at the Oscars or the Cannes Film Festival. *slow clap*
Well done Alisha Edwards. This is how you wear red. Your partner Steele Sidebottom scrubs up pretty well too. Picture: Michael KleinSource:News Corp Australia
You know when Coco Chanel told us to take one thing off before we leave the house? I think we can all agree on which thing we’re talking about in this particular case. I did not watch the televised coverage, but feel certain the poor poppet would have had to jump down the red carpet.
There’s something about the way Emma Giles is standing here that makes us suspect her dress isn’t the most comfortable thing she’s ever worn. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
When considering whether to wear a mullet dress over disco pants, probably always choose NO. On the plus side, I would wear the HECK out of those gold pants on the daily.
Keep the gold pants Tayla Harris. They’ll be awesome to pop down to Woolies in. Picture: Michael KleinSource:News Corp Australia
From the Barbie Brownlow Collection. I totes dig this. She looks glorious. Minimal styling works with the maximal frock.
Jessie Murphy (wife of Carlton player, Marc Murphy) had a baby THIS YEAR. Where did she get that waist from? Picture: Julian Smith / AAPSource:AAP
Yaass woman! Imagine how many more would tune into this AFL game of which you speak if the uniforms had a little more pizzazz. I LOVE this on her. Kicking all my style goals. TOUCHDOWN*!
*Something AFL fans may say, according to my sources.
Channel 7 presenter Abbey Gelmi reminding us all what this event is supposed to be about. Picture: Michael KleinSource:News Corp Australia
Encapsulating one of 2018’s fashion trends: Frocks inspired by gynaecology. I’m actually a fan of the fleshy flesh tones and textures. She looks lovely.
Well done Taylah Wilcox. Gold (or flesh coloured) medal to you. Picture: Julian Smith / AAPSource:AAP
And finally, the Brownlow Medal is awarded to this look. This is a vision. Best on Ground. Flawless execution on every level. *Applause*
Brit Davis knows she’s killed it. And isn’t her arm candy, Geelong captain Joel Selwood, thrilled? Picture: Michael KleinSource:News Corp Australia
Check out Fashion Critical’s full Brownlow red carpet recap on Facebook: Fashion Critical or Instagram: @fashion_critical
Updated December 12, 2014 11:03:31
A small shared Bankstown apartment, an old sedan, a job as a waiter and dole payments – such was the meagre world of Vietnamese refugee Pete Tan Hoang.
Except, that is, for as much as $1 billion he gambled at Australia's biggest casino, Crown Melbourne, in a little over a decade.
Hoang, 36, was shot in the face in September while waiting on a darkened street in suburban Sydney.
His murder has left police perplexed, but has also shone a light on massive laundering on behalf of a global crime syndicate with links across Asia and the Americas, and highlighted the scale of the narco money laundering problem in Australia.
Hoang's story, his rise from a Vietnamese-born orphan living on a refugee visa to one of Australia's biggest gamblers and money launderers, also raises concerns about how he was able to rort the system for so long and for so much money – particularly at Australia's biggest casino.
Court documents from a recent case reveal Hoang ran as much as $1 billion in black cash through Crown between 2000 and 2012.
He also was allowed to gamble under four different names and received a slew of perks, including overseas holidays, cash gifts of as much as $100,000, and gambling 'commissions' in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) estimates at least $15 billion a year is laundered in and through Australia each year; other estimates suggest it is higher.
Much of that money is the result of drug trafficking.
Most federal crime agencies in Australia acknowledge they face an increasingly monumental struggle against global crime groups seeking to launder their multi-billion-dollar narco profits.
Despite being targeted during a 2005 to 2006 ACC operation dubbed Operation Gordian, and with a series of intelligence reports revealing his role as a drug trafficker and money launderer, Hoang remained a fixture at Crown until he was charged with money laundering in late 2012.
Hoang was also involved with several Vietnamese-Australian drug trafficking syndicates in Sydney and Melbourne.
New South Wales Police homicide squad commander Mick Willing told ABC's 7.30 and Fairfax there was little doubt Hoang's background in drugs and Asian organised crime syndicates played a role in his death.
'We have certainly considered that he was involved in drug trafficking and moving money through casinos - [that] may have been a catalyst for his death,' Mr Willing said.
How a Vietnamese orphan wound up in a global crime syndicate
Orphaned at a young age and raised by foster parents, Hoang arrived in Australia in 1997 on a student visa and an Indonesian passport under the name Petrus Keyn Peten.
Within months he had applied for refugee status, under the name Minh Tan Nguyen.
He was a known gambler at casinos, [Hoang] would certainly deal with other people's money at casinos under instructions.
Restaurants At Crown Casino Melbourne
By 2001 he had become an Australian citizen, and changed his name twice more.
By the time he had become a citizen he had already been banned from Sydney's casino, The Star.
Law enforcement officials speaking to 7.30 and Fairfax on condition of anonymity said he became a professional money launderer, gambling millions in the profits of heroin and other drugs, giving it the appearance of legitimate casino winnings.
Intelligence gathered by state and federal law enforcement during the mid 2000s suggests Hoang was involved with a group of Vietnamese-Australians that formed the Australian end of a Hong Kong-based crime group known as Ong Ngoai – or 'grandfather' in Vietnamese.
Ong Ngoai is a global drug trafficking syndicate with links across Asia and North and South America. Australian police have identified at least two dozen drug syndicates here with links to it.
Michael Purchas was the brains behind Operation Gordian, and spent months watching Vietnamese-Australian criminals including Hoang sell drugs and launder the profits.
Hoang's exclusive treatment at Crown
- Business class flights from Sydney
- A villa in the Crown Towers
- Free food and alcohol
- Cut of gambling turnover
- Minimum $1 million buy-in
'He was a known gambler at casinos, [Hoang] would certainly deal with other people's money at casinos under instructions,' Mr Purchase said.
Operation Gordian was hailed as a breakthrough investigation into money laundering and resulted in the convictions of small group Vietnamese-Australians responsible for laundering about $93 million in drug profits in a year.
At the time Hoang was only a peripheral figure and managed to slip the police dragnet.
He continued to be involved in the trafficking of heroin and other illicit drugs. The amount of money he laundered through casinos – primarily Crown Melbourne – also increased.
In May 2012 Hoang was once again banned from Sydney's Star and also from Jupiter's Casino in Brisbane.
His luck ran out in October 2012, when he was arrested in a high roller room at Crown casino attempting to gamble with $1.5 million in cash that police alleged were the proceeds of crime.
Twelve years of gambling yielded almost $1b, court case hears
The resultant court case revealed he had bought about $75 million worth of chips at Crown between 2000 and 2012, which equalled a gambling turnover of at least $225 million, possibly as high as $1 billion.
Deakin University social scientist Professor Linda Hancock is the author of a book on Crown casino and said Hoang's turnover was an 'amazing' amount of money.
'He would be accounting for a very high proportion of gambled funds. He would be what's called in the business, 'a person of interest',' Professor Hancock said.
'So you would think that there would be a trigger between any casino and the police for such a person.'
While Crown did report many of Hoang's transactions to federal authorities as it is required to, it also provided him a slew of perks and benefits not available to most gamblers.
He was allowed to have four different identities at the casino – Pete Hoang, James and John Ho and Patrick Lu – and received free business class flights, accommodation, and alcohol as well as cash gifts up to $100,000.
The case also revealed his remarkable gambling patterns.
A hearing in June this year received evidence that during the month of September 2012, he was bought over $9 million in chips and played the card game baccarat at an average of $106,000 per hand.
The casino paid him a commission based on the amount he had gambled, and that month he earned $199,000 as a result of his high-stakes gambling.
Crown casino declined to answer specific questions about Hoang's treatment, but said: 'Crown is and has been for some time assisting state and federal law enforcement agencies regarding Mr Hoang and we will continue to do so.'
Melbourne Crown Casino
Topics:law-crime-and-justice, gambling, drug-offences, melbourne-3000, vic, australia
Crown Casino Melbourne Australia
First posted December 11, 2014 17:03:00