Cases referred to Shanghai district court
Crown Resorts employees who were detained last year for alleged “gambling crimes” have been formally charged.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, 18 employees of the Australian casino operator have been charged with “offenses related to the promotion of gambling.” The charges apply to staffers who continue to be held in a detention center in Shanghai as well as several who were released on bail, Crown said in a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange.
The cases have been referred to the Baoshan District Court in Shanghai, Crown added. The detainees include Jason O’Connor, Crown’s executive vice president for international VIP business.
It’s illegal to advertise or promote gambling in Mainland China, but a number of foreign operators have skirted the problem by promoting the resorts and cities where their casinos are located, reported GGRAsia.
“It’s a matter of how you strategically market yourself and what you’re emphasizing,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Margaret Huang. “You can’t be just like ‘Hey come to our casino here.”’
Bloomberg News noted that the arrests are part of China’s strategy to curb capital outflows from the mainland that have diminished capital reserves and weakened the currency. Other measures include a new plan that will require facial recognition and ID checks before Mainland Chinese residents can use UnionPay Co. ATMs to withdraw cash.
“Overseas gambling is a key way of money laundering and sending capital overseas,” said Wang Guoqiang, a Shanghai lawyer. “The government is very serious about stopping illegal capital outflows, so there’s a renewed emphasis on cracking down on related activities.”
Though the Crown arrests have had “a chilling effect” on casino marketing in China, Ben Lee of Asian gaming consultancy IGamiX said the casino companies “have a certain level of amnesia.”
A court date of June 26 has been set for 14 Crown staff, reported the Herald. Supporters hope the detainees will be released like five South Korean casino staffers who were arrested in June 2015, sentenced to 16 months in prison in October 2016, but then released days later—coincidentally, shortly after the Crown employees were taken into custody. South Korean casino staff arrested in 2013 for recruiting Chinese gamblers were released after 18 months.
Crown head James Packer’s former business partner in Macau, Melco Resorts & Entertainment chief Lawrence Ho, told the Financial Times that those who engage in marketing in direct defiance of Chinese law were “deliberately spitting in the face” of the Beijing government.
