Taiwan prosecutors have charged a subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertainment with illegally shifting hundreds of millions of dollars between the island nation and Macau.
An indictment handed up by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office says the Taipei branch of Hong Kong-based MCE International transferred more than NT$5.4 billion (US$180 million) in knowing violation of foreign exchange controls and financial oversight.
The funds allegedly were moved on behalf of high-rollers looking to gamble at Melco Crown’s City of Dreams and Altira casinos in Macau, according to news reports, which said the transfers took place between July 2009 and January 2013, when police raided the offices of MCE and other companies and NT$3 billion in MCE funds were frozen.
The indictment names four current and former employees, including the head of the Taiwan office, his predecessor and a Taiwanese husband-and-wife management team involved in a VIP room at City of Dreams, according to a report by GamblingCompliance.
Nasdaq-listed Melco Crown said at the time of its second-quarter earnings release that it had not received a “formal indictment document” and said it “will defend vigorously any indictment brought against us, as based on Taiwan legal advice received, we believe our operations in Taiwan are in compliance with Taiwan laws”.
The company said also that the charges would not have an “immediate material impact on our business operations or financial position”.
The legal troubles added to a broad Melco sell-off in the wake of Q2 earnings that fell short of analysts’ estimates. EBITDA was down 11 percent year on year, mainly on lower VIP gambling volume and below-average luck, the company said.
