Fallout from multimillion-dollar theft
The fallout from the ongoing recession and loss of VIP business in Macau has reportedly resulted in more junket closures in the city.
The website CalvinAyre.com cited a report in the Chinese Economic Journal that Jimei International Entertainment Group has already closed one of its VIP rooms at the Wynn Macau and consolidated its operations at Melco Crown properties, combining the International Club at Altira with its rooms at the City of Dreams. That report was disputed by Kwok Chi Chung, a director of Jimei and president of the Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters of Macau. He told the Macau Business Daily that Jimei has not closed a room at Wynn Macau.
However, it looks like junket operator Dore Entertainment was planning to shutter one of its three gaming rooms in the Wynn Macau as of October 31, the Macau Business Daily reports. And the Macau Daily Times cited lawmaker Pereira Coutinho, who said the junket operator was forced to downsize after the scandal in which cage cashier Mimi Chow allegedly stole HKD270 million ($35 million) from the rooms at Wynn Macau.
“Sooner or later, the rooms would have to close because they simply did not have money to pay,” Coutinho told the Times.
Daiwa Securities has predicted there will be “accelerating junket attrition in the coming months.” In October, the government introduced new guidelines for financial reporting, auditing and staffing to improve transparency and security in the sector.
“Some form of policy tightening on junkets was, to some degree, expected post the Dore incident,” wrote the Daiwa analysts.
