The man became one of the top 10 players at the Star Gold Coast after he was banned from the Crown Melbourne in 2014 and being banned from The Star, Sydney, by NSW police seven months later.
An inquiry into Star's suitability to hold a Queensland casino licence heard that a later Sydney Morning Herald report on the man's alleged links to Italy's 'Ndrangheta gang didn't trigger a Queensland ban either.
At the time, the company decided not to ban the man because he had not been charged with any crime.
Star's anti-money laundering general manager Howard Steiner says that person would have been banned under the company's current policies.
"Clearly this is a feature of the compliance strategy or appetite for risk culture of the past that does not exist today," he told the inquiry on Thursday.
Counsel assisting Jonathan Horton, QC, asked Mr Steiner about how Star's anti-money laundering team had been able to verify if NSW police had banned a female patron because they didn't have a subscription to the media outlet that had reported it.
"This is indicative of an operational sclerosis that may have existed at the time, which is certainly not a feature of today's program," Mr Steiner replied.
The inquiry heard how Star also struggled to verify the identities of banned people because their names were spelt differently in different media reports.
Mr Steiner also admitted he was not aware of any reporting obligations for Star when it gave gifts worth up to $50,000 to individual customers.
When asked if Star giving cash gifts of up to $20,000 to patrons would get the attention of the anti-money laundering team, Mr Steiner said: "Generally not."
He said Star had policies and procedures on gifts, but "discretionary comps" were up to individual casino departments.
"Discretionary comps are probably addressed in various, or should be at least, addressed in the specific documents for those casino departments that are involved in giving those gifts or approving them," Mr Steiner said.
The hearing continues.
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