A group of 19 former and current employees of Crown Resorts have been found guilty of violating the Chinese mainland rules for gambling promotion. Three Australians were sentenced to serve in jail between nine and ten months.
The employees pleaded guilty in a closed hearing, after in October 2016 they were taken into custody by Chinese authorities. They got charged earlier in June, with three of the employees being released on bail.
One of the employees who were sentenced to a month-long jail term is the Executive Vice President of Crown division VIP International, Jason O’Connor. The sentence was confirmed by the Australian Consul General Graeme Meehan. Mr. O’Connor was sentenced to ten months in jail, while the other two, Jerry Xuan and Pan Dan, were sent in jail for nine months.
The Australian Consul did not provide any information about the sentences that were given to the Malaysian Alfread Gomez, the vice-president of Crown Resorts in China, and the Chinese employees of the company. However, he confirmed that the case had been monitored very closely by the Australian Government, with the country officials being ready to continue providing consular assistance to the staff members and their families.
Pan Dan and Jerry Xuan were arrested in October 2016, so they will be released in July, as they have already served 9 months of their jail sentence. Jason O’Connor, on the other hand, is expected to be released at the middle of August. Still, the sentences of the rest of the employees are not clear, but a fine estimated to a total of $1.67 million was imposed on 16 of the 19 employees. The monetary sanction is to be paid ex gratia by Crown Resorts.
At the mid June, Crown Resorts issued a statement, explaining that some of its employees got charged for offences related to the promotion of gambling in mainland China. The proceedings were not available for the media, and the charged employees’ relatives were not willing to provide any details on the case.
Up to date, casino gambling and gambling promotion are not legal in mainland China. Gambling activities are allows only in Macau, which is currently one of the main gambling hubs on a global scale. The maximum imprisonment sentence that could be faces by a person who violates the law is 3 years. There has been a crackdown on the promotion of gambling on the island of Macau, where the joint venture controlled by Crown Resorts hosted various players from the mainland.
For a few years now, foreign casino operators have been trying to attract more players from the Chinese VIP market, violating the law which forbids any promotion of gambling activities. Since its employees were arrested, the brand has decided to sell down its stake in Melco Crown, a Macau-based joint venture. It is also set to get rid of its final stake in Melco Resorts and Entertainment for a total of $987 million.
- Author
Daniel Williams
