One of the major figures involved with the negotiations of the sale of a considerable stake of Crown Resorts to the Macau-based casino company of Lawrence Ho has confirmed he did not think much on whether the sale potentially violated a special clause designed to prevent the Barangaroo project from being associated with criminal organisations.
Yesterday, the New South Wales (NSW) regulatory inquiry into Crown Resorts’ suitability to hold a Sydney casino licence heard that the largest shareholder of the Australian casino giant, James Packer, insisted on the deal with Melco Resorts even though in May 2019 one of the company’s executives, Michael Johnston, had insisted on discussing other options. The deal was supposed to see 19.9% of Mr Packer’s shares in Crown Resorts Transferred to Lawrence Ho’s Melco Resorts at the price of AU$1.7 billion.
Lawrence Ho is the son of the late Stanley Ho, a Chinese billionaire who has been suspected of having links to Macau-based criminal organisations. However, no suggestion that Lawrence Ho had any such links was made.
At the time when he made the decision for the share sale, James Packer was living in the US and had announced his decision to withdraw from the business due to deteriorated mental health.
NSW Authorities Investigate Crown Resorts’ Suitability to Keep Its Barangaroo Casino Licence
Michael Johnston, who served as a director both at Crown Resorts and Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH), the private company of Mr Packer, had also been questioned about whether he took into consideration the possible risks that could have occurred for the gambling giant’s Sydney casino project as a result of the deal.
As Casino Guardian previously reported, at the time when the operating licence of the Sydney casino was issued by the NSW Government in 2013, the authorities shared concerns that any link to Stankey Ho or his companies might end up preventing the casino project from being permitted. So it happened. Melco Resorts is run by Lawrence Ho, but Great Respect, a company linked to his father, maintains a considerable stake in it. For the time being, Great Respect remains on the NSW’s banned list.
As revealed at the Monday hearing, the private company of James Packer, CPH, did not inform Crown Resorts about its deal with Melco until it was signed.
Mr Johnston revealed that he got in contact with the then-executive chairman of Crown Resorts, John Alexander, late on the night of May 30th to inform him of the deal inked with Melco. According to him, Mr Alexander was not happy with the news. Johnston was also questioned about what he knew about the true ownership of Melco Resorts and why the ownership structure of the Macau-based casino company was not reviewed more carefully.
As the executive said, he was unsure whether he was aware that Stanley Ho had any interest in Melco Resorts. He, however, shared he knew that the Government of New South Wales was willing to keep Stanley Ho away from any Sydney casino licence.
The inquiry is aimed at finding out whether Crown Resorts is suitable for holding its Barangaroo casino project licence after failing to inform the local gambling regulatory body that the deal potentially violated the licence conditions. Furthermore, the inquiry is investigating some allegations made by several local media hubs, which accused Crown Resorts of quietly permitting money laundering to take place at its casinos in Melbourne and Perth.
The probe is still continuing, with Mr Packer expected to give evidence later this week.
- Author
Olivia Cole
