Alan Ho, a nephew of SJM Holdings’ Chairman Stanley Ho Hung Sun and managing director of the company’s Hotel Lisboa in Macau, may spend the Chinese New Year in jail.
Ho is among several executives caught up in a prostitution sting on January 13. More than 100 people including 96 suspected prostitutes from China and Vietnam were held for investigation. Six suspects including senior hotel executives allegedly masterminded the operation, reported GGRAsia. The ring is suspected to have been in operation since at least 2013 and reportedly made more than MOP400 million (US$50 million) since early 2013.
Ho remains in custody and is expected to spend his holiday in Coloane prison, reported the Macau Business Daily.
In addition to his work at the Hotel Lisboa, Ho was involved in the management of several hotels in Macau. He has served as president of the Association of Macau Tourist Agents and, in 2011, was granted the Medal of Merit in Tourism by the Macau government. Noted for his love of fine wines, he has been called “the defender of the Lisboa empire,” according to the Daily.
Meanwhile, while calling for added security and staff training at the hotel, SJM Holdings Executive Director Angela Leong added that the hotel hallway where sex workers allegedly congregated “is not a jurisdiction of the Sociedade de Jogos de Macau.
“After something like this happening, legal proceedings have been undertaken, so I don’t have a particular comment on this matter,” Leong told the Macau Daily News. “But I believe that it reminds our security and senior management staff to review how we can each do a better job at fulfilling our responsibilities, along with reviewing the entire management in the future.”
