New South Wales authorities have posed for discussion a legal document, according to which James Packer, CEO of the Australian gambling empire Crown, needs to take due measures, so as to make sure that Stanley Ho is not involved in the Crown Sydney casino project in any way. The Hong Kong business mogul, who is known for turning Macau in the gambling Mecca it is now, has been linked to the Chinese underground organization Triad for years. Ho was even suspected of providing members of the gang with free trips to his gambling facilities.
Packer and his company have been licensed to build and operate casino hotel and venue in Barangaroo, Sydney. The project is expected to cost the Australian businessman the total amount of $1.2 billion and it is planned to be completed by 2019.
The legally binding arrangement that is to be signed between the NSW ILGA (Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority) and Crown Resorts stipulates that Packer’s company needs to make sure that Stanley Huang Sun Ho or his associates will by no means take any part, both financial or organizational, in the implementation of the Sydney project. What is more, Crown will have to keep the Hong Kong magnate from receiving any benefits from the new venue.
In order to accomplish this, the Australian company will need to perform thorough inspection of its businesses once in three months. If a payment has been made to Ho or any of his collaborators, this should be reported to the Crown Gaming Compliance Committee. The regulatory committee will then have to notify the authority about any violation of the agreement.
The ILGA considered it needed for such an agreement to be signed, due to the fact that Packer collaborates with Ho’s son on various projects, related to Melco Crown Entertainment’s planned expansion across Asia and the USA.
Over the years, Ho’s connections with Triad gangs have caused inconveniences to other regulatory bodies, too. Back in 2006, the Hong Kong magnate voluntarily vacated his position of a chairman of Melco International, since Victorian casino authority did not want him related to Melco Crown in any way. Three years later, Ho’s daughter was not allowed to take part in an MGM Grand casino project in New Jersey. Her participation was considered “unsuitable”, due to her kinship with the business mogul.
According to Angela Leong’s report written and published in 2002, Ho’s venues in Macau accommodated VIP players that were members of the Triad. It appears that they were offered additional “privileges” such as drugs, prostitutes, etc.
The documents, concerning the agreement, were posed for discussion last week. Certain sections of those, however, remained undisclosed, for they were believed to be harmful to Crown’s reputation. Eventually, Keith Mason, QC, was asked to decide as to whether their contents should be announced publicly and, thus, the media was provided with a special report earlier this week.
John Kaye, representative of the Greens, commented on the latest events as “an admission that the Barangaroo casino will pose a real threat to NSW”.
