Crown Resorts employees who were detained in mid-October 2016 in China for the illegal promotion of gambling services were given nine- to ten-month sentences by the Baoshan District Court.
Last fall, Chinese police detained 19 members of the casino operator’s staff for allegedly trying to lure wealthy high roller players from Mainland China to its casinos in Australia. Of the arrested employees, three were Australians, including Jason O’Connor, Crown’s Head of International VIP Gambling, and 16 were Chinese nationals.
It became known earlier today that Mr. O’Connor was sentenced to ten months in a Chinese prison and the other two Australian citizens – Pan Dan and Jerry Xuan – received nine-month sentences each. Their terms began running from the day of their detention, October 14. In other words, Mr. O’Connor is set to be released on August 14, while the other two Crown employees have less than a month to serve.
The rest of the arrested staff members were, too, sentenced to between nine and ten months in prison. They all pleaded guilty to the illegal gambling promotion charges. There were three employees who were released from custody shortly after being detained last October.
Casino gambling has long been illegal in China, with Macau being the only exception to the rule. The tiny enclave currently hosts around 40 casino venues and has become the world’s most profitable gambling hub.
The detention of Crown employees occurred as part of a larger clampdown on casino gambling, initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Said clampdown had affected Macau, as well, as the administrative region had experienced a significant drop in revenue, which it now seems to be recovering from.
In a similar fashion, Crown’s profitability was severely hit in the weeks and months after its employees’ detention. The company saw shares slide 45% within a dangerously short period of time. In addition to this, the number of high roller players visiting its Australian casinos dropped considerably.
Following the clampdown, the major operator announced the end of its plan to demerge domestic assets from its international ones. Crown sold its stake in the Melco Crown casino operator, recently rebranded to Melco Resorts & Entertainment, to its partner Lawrence Ho. The former joint venture operates casino resorts in Macau and the Philippines.
Crown is also seeking to sell a plot of land in Las Vegas, where it had planned to build a casino. The company has decided to focus its full attention to its domestic projects. At present, Crown manages two integrated resorts in its homeland – one in Melbourne and the other in Perth. Crown Sydney, a $2-billion hotel and casino complex is currently under development in Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct.
