Sydney’s Star casino has been surrounded by negative press, further blackening the image of its former managing director Sid Vaikunta.
Vaikunta has been dismissed pending inquiry into allegations of cocaine use, drug cover-ups, bullying and sexual harrassment of employees at the Star casino. The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority of Australia has held public hearings to investigate these claims.
Star casino wracked with controversy
Former employees insist that Vaikunta’s nickname was “Sniffing Sid” because of his well-known cocaine habit, which he often shared with high-rollers at the casino. High-rollers would be permitted to humiliate employees, as duty manager Elizabeth Ward testified that she was reduced to tears by the public verbal abuse of a high-roller, who berated her for over forty minutes while higher managers stayed silent and agreed with the player instead of diffusing the situation. She was forced to apologise to the high-roller, whom she stated had a severe drug and gambling problem which the casino enabled.
It all comes back to Vaikunta, whose alleged drug addiction rendered him incapable of dealing with the casino effectively. Rumours of him being too intoxicated to attend meetings had circulated around the casino regularly. A suspicious incident involving cocaine confiscated from a high-roller’s room being replaced with cement dust, and the security footage of its discovery going missing, has also been linked to Vaikunta’s orders.
The inquiry continues.
