Australia-listed casino owner and operator Silver Heritage has shut down all gaming operations at its Phoenix International Club in Bac Ninh, Vietnam, near the capital city of Hanoi. The casino at the Phoenix, which made up almost half of the company’s unaudited revenue last year, closed for an “indefinite” period starting March 1.
On that day, according to Inside Asian Gaming, the company said it received notice from the general manager of the Phoenix that table games were no longer permitted to operate on the property. Silver Heritage said it will review its legal options in the matter.
The 1,500-square-meter (162,000-square-foot) casino included 12 live gaming tables and 72 electronic table games and slot machines.
Complicating matters, the same day Silver Heritage’s announced recently uncovered “accounting regularities” at its Nepal operations.
“Limited investigations to date indicate the issue relates to the accounting treatment and specifically the method used to change the treatment of a previously written off amount in an attempt to re-classify the expense at a local subsidiary level,” the company stated in a filing.
“The irregularities are predominantly non-cash in nature and the cash cost to the business is approximately US$15,000. Due to the discovery of these accounting irregularities, the company is undertaking a full review of the Nepal accounting operations,” the company said.
With the filing, Silver Heritage Group requested an immediate suspension of trading on the Australian Stock Exchange.
In related news, the company has opened three new “premium mass and VIP” gaming rooms at the Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa, located in Nepal near the border of India. According to GGRAsia, the area has a total of 11 table games and spans 4,500 square feet (418 square meters). It is said to offer rolling chip play to customers either directly managed by the house or introduced to the property via junkets.
The area is said to have a lobby lounge, private dining, high-limit slots, “secure access” from the main casino floor and a private entryway.
Silver Heritage opened the resort in late December 2017 to serve Indian tourists. Tiger Resort is near the border of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh.
