Star’s non-executive directors quietly released from further legal action

“ASIC has informed the seven non-executive directors and the Federal Court that it will not be appealing the order made on 20 March 2026 dismissing the proceeding against the non-executive directors,” it read.

The first version of the media release was published in the hours after the Federal Court found Star’s former CEO and managing director, Matthias Bekier, and former chief legal and risk officer, Paula Martin, breached their duties under the Corporations Act 2001.

Bekier had failed to properly manage the risks associated with the Salon 95 gambling junket, while Martin failed to advise the board about the risks and was involved in misleading the National Australia Bank about the use of China Union Pay cards by gambling customers.

While scathing of Star’s culture and management, Justice Michael Lee dismissed ASIC’s case against seven others: Richard Sheppard, Katie Lahey, Gerard Bradley, Sally Pitkin, Ben Heap, and Zlatko Todorcevski.

The case against them was based on information they were said to have and the subsequent action or inaction as a result of that.

Justice Lee was critical of the inconsistencies in ASIC’s case – on the one hand, Bekier and Martin were alleged to have failed to inform the board of certain risks; on the other, the board was alleged to have failed to act on information it had already described as inadequate.

“Evaluative judgments of past actions, including when assessing legal liability, ought to reflect the reality that actions or inactions of directors, like any human actor, need to be judged by reference to the snapshot of knowledge and perspective then available,” Justice Lee said

However, Justice Lee’s judgment did not let the non-executives off lightly, noting contemporaneous minutes produced by the board disclosed “little by way of sustained scrutiny or insistence upon explanation in circumstances where risks were obvious”.

Despite the board having a corporate governance statement, Justice Lee said Star’s culture was “so dysfunctional and unethical” that its senior management was “tardy in preventing junket operators from behaving inappropriately and lied to its bankers” for its own advantage.

At the time, ASIC chair Joe Longo said the watchdog acknowledged the Federal Court’s findings in relation to the non-executive directors, but that it would always require leaders to meet high standards of corporate governance because of the trust they hold.