China has officially arrested the seventeen Crown Resorts employees who have been held in custody since mid-October for allegedly being involved in gambling-related crimes. The staff members are to remain detained for at least several more months until their case is handed to court prosecutors.
Although China has not provided information about the arrests, it is believed that the Crown Resorts employees were taken into custody for promoting gambling options to potential Chinese customers. More details are expected to become known once the final charges are pressed.
Casino gambling and marketing this type of services is illegal in Mainland China. However, it has become a common practice among casino and junket operators to open offices in the country and to promote non-gambling options at their integrated casino resorts around the Asia-Pacific region to potential visitors. Thus, companies actually aim at attracting casino patrons for their gaming floors.
It is not illegal to market non-gambling services at gambling resorts to potential Chinese customers. However, those who do it are operating in the gray area and may eventually be confronted by authorities.
As many as eighteen Crown Resorts employees were detained on October 13-14 in police raids in at least four cities around China. Of those, there were three Australians, with Jason O’Connor, Head of the gambling operator’s international VIP operations, being among them. Most of the people detained were based in China and were part of Crown Resorts’ local sales and marketing teams.
It is believed that the arrests were made as part of what has become known as Operation Chain Break, an initiative launched by the Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) last year. Back then, PSB Deputy Chief Hua Jingfeng said that China has long been seen as an enormous market by international gambling operators and that these have opened offices in the country to allure gambling customers to their casino resorts. With Operation Chain Break the Bureau wanted to warn wrongdoers that any type of advertising activity that was in breach of laws would be prosecuted.
Commenting on the recent detention of Crown Resorts employees, U Io Hung, who runs junket operator CCUE VIP, said that the Australian operator has been walking on thin ice over the years. Mr. U explained that instead of keeping a rather low profile, Crown Resorts and its staff has recruited and has tried to recruit potential players in the exact opposite manner.
Earlier this month, Chinese police released on bail one of the detained Crown Resorts employees. As reported by local media, Jenny Jiang, the released staff member, was an administrative worker at the casino operator.
