Macau’s New Century Hotel has been seized for unpaid debts due the owner of a Macau-based travel agency.
The Court of First Instance ordered the move in response to a petition by Hoi Cheng Nga, head of Energy Travel Agency, which is suing the hotel’s operating company. The court did not reveal the size of the debt but has asked other creditors to come forward to register their claims.
The hotel and the adjoining Greek Mythology Casino are located on the nearby island of Taipa. The casino, which operates as a sub-licensee of gaming concessionaire SJM Holdings, has seen its business plummet amid a tangled series of ownership disputes that erupted in violence in June 2012 when junket operator Ng Man Sun was attacked and beaten at a hotel restaurant by a gang of masked men. Ng was battling at the time with former girlfriend Chan Mei Fun over control of New Century and Greek Mythology. That battle also has spilled over into a courtroom in the British Virgin Islands, where New Century’s ownership company is registered and where Ng is challenging the transfer of a controlling interest in the company to Chan.
In October, Chan was arrested in Macau on suspicion of defrauding Macau and mainland Chinese investors of MOP320 million (US$40 million), some of which she is alleged to have used to open a VIP room in Greek Mythology, among other gaming-related deals. She was trying to leave Macau by helicopter when she was detained. Police said she had entered the city using false identification. She was released on bail.
A principal investor in Greek Mythology says the hotel seizure will have no effect on operations at the casino, but SJM has already removed 40 of the casino’s 120 gaming tables along with 200 staff.
“The company would like to clarify that the operation of the hotel and Greek Mythology is separated,” said junket aggregator Amax International Holdings in a late December filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Amax added that it has no equity interest in New Century, and that Greek Mythology operates in conjunction with the hotel merely as a tenant.
