As influencers and celebrities flock to visit the recently-opened Crown Hotel in Sydney - dubbed "Australia's most luxurious hotel resort" - the Crown's Barangaroo casino has crumbled.

The new casino was designed to be exclusively for "high-rollers," but now won't be open to anyone for the foreseeable future.

Whilst the new Sydney hotel, which opened last December, has been recently occupied by several local celebrities, the Crown's casino facilities has been overcome with criminal allegations, prompting several executive members of the board to resign.

Since the hotel quietly opened on December 28, we've seen big names posting photos in stylish cabanas and around the infinity pool. But with the casino, for which the hotel was purpose-built, no longer opening, there's a question over how the Crown's business model will have to change. By all accounts, the current approach seems to be working.

According to the Australian Financial Review, the hotel's 394 rooms (that start at $850 a night) have been 'comfortably booked' since they became available. And that's in the midst of a global pandemic.

Here's what you need to know about the controversy over the Crown's new Sydney casino, and what will happen next.

What has happened to the casino?

On Tuesday, Crown Resorts was officially informed they are no longer suitable to hold the licence for their new casino, which has already been built.

It comes after a scathing report by former Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin found Crown Resorts was not suitable to hold a gaming licence in Sydney because of links to money laundering and organised crime in their Melbourne and Perth casinos.

In the wake of the damning report, which recommended a restructuring of the Crown's board, CEO Ken Barton and non-executive director Andrew Demetriou both resigned, as well as directors Guy Jalland and Michael Johnston.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, not opening this casino will result in a $400 million loss in tax revenue.

What did the report find?

The public inquiry was triggered by an investigation in 2019 byThe Sydney Morning Herald,The Ageand60 Minutes,who unveiled the criminal activity conducted by the company.

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