Singapore’s local Casino Regulatory Authority imposed serious fines on the city’s casinos – Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. These were the first penalties the two gambling venues received this year.
A representative of the CRA commented on their actions as being provoked by the casinos’ failure to prevent minors or other ineligible individuals from entering their premises. He pointed out that visitors who used false identification documents were allowed into the gaming facilities and, obviously, this was due to a human error.
The fine that was imposed on Marina Bay Sands amounted to SGD197,500. The casino will be expected to pay SGD122,500 for allowing access to its premises to 5 citizens of Singapore who did not pay the entry fees they were supposed to. What is more, another visitor of the venue spent more than 24 hours there, although he had paid only for a daily entry.
Residents of Singapore need to pay a special fee, so as to be permitted access to the two gaming venues in question. The entry levy is SGD100 for a twenty-four-hour stay or SGD2,000 for a 1-year pass.
In addtion, Marina Bay Sands will have to pay SGD75,000 for letting Ma Siu Hong, a former employee, enter the place, aiming at stealing chips. Allegedly, Ma, who was in his mid-twenties, disguised himself in order to be able to go into the venue. Once there, he put his old uniform so as to look like a dealer. However, the perpetrator was caught and was declared a punishment of half an year in prison. He also needed to pay the sum of SGD5,000. It was reported that this took place more than two years ago, back in September 2012.
Resorts World Sentosa, on the other hand, was penalized the total sum of SGD20,000, mostly for allowing two minors into the casino. The gaming facility is property of Genting Singapore Plc., part of Malaysia’s leading corporation Genting Group.
In November 2013, both casinos were penalized more than SGD500,000 for breaching the Casino Control Act on several occasions between May and December, 2012.
A few days ago, Fitch Ratings announced that the gambling venues’ credit profiles were most likely to remain “resilient”, despite the fact that, recently, less international visitors travelled to the famous gaming hub. Singaporean casinos will also be challenged by the new facilities that are to be introduced in the Philippines, Macau, and Japan (provided that the necessary law is passed).
Fitch also commented on the decreased arrival of Chinese VIP players as resulting from the weakened economic growth and recent corruption scandals. The agency, however, claimed that the “the sharp contraction in revenue from the VIP segment is temporary” and the number of VIP players will mark a significant increase by the second half of 2015.
