Macau’s Judiciary Police confirmed on Tuesday that L’Arc Hotel and Casino located on the Macau Peninsula had reported an alleged embezzlement of a little less than HK$100 million by a senior staff member at the gambling venue.
L’Arc Casino opened doors in 2009 and is one of the fifteen satellite gambling venues operated under a special service agreement with Macau-based casino concessionaire SJM Holdings Ltd.
Chan Cho Man, spokesman for Judiciary Police, said at a Tuesday briefing that the case was reported by the satellite casino on Sunday and confirmed that a senior staff member was indeed being investigated for allegedly embezzling the amount of HK$99.7 million (US$12.9 million) from L’Arc Casino.
The spokesman further noted that no suspects have been arrested yet, but refused to name the senior staff member.
Local media reported that the casino at L’Arc was among the business interests of Angela Leong On Kei, a shareholder and Executive Director at gambling operator SJM Holdings. When asked about the ongoing investigation, Ms. Leong told reporters that she was not involved in the venue’s day-to-day operations. She also expressed hopes that the police would act in due manner and would achieve quick results.
The announcement about the fraud investigation at the above-mentioned casino came several months after Macau-based junket operator Dore Entertainment Co. Ltd. reported that a former employee had embezzled millions of dollars from the company’s cage operations.
The Dore case resulted in stricter regulations concerning the administrative region’s junket operators being introduced. As of 2016, all such firms will have to present a monthly accounting report to Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau and to provide details about staff members in charge of their financial operations.
Gaming analysts suggested that the latest fraud case at a gambling-related entity in Macau would bring even more stringent regulations on junket operators and particularly on the way those raise capital. And Paulo Martins Chan, the new head of the city’s gambling regulator, has previously pointed out that local government would need to improve Macau’s legal framework regarding its gaming industry.
However, people with knowledge of the matter suggested that if tighter laws come into effect, many of the smaller junkets would close operations after the Chinese New Year and even the bigger ones would likely find it challenging to adapt to the new regulations.
