The Nevada Supreme Court is once again considering a Hong Kong businessman’s claim for damages after he had helped gambling operator Las Vegas Sands receive a gaming license for the operation of casinos in Macau.
In a response to the above claim, the Las Vegas-based gambling giant said that Richard Suen should not be compensated as he had not had any direct role in the company acquiring a license in the Chinese administrative region, which now is known to be the world’s most popular casino destination.
Although attorneys for Las Vegas Sands have repeatedly pointed out that Mr. Suen “did virtually nothing” to help the company expand into the Macau gambling market, Clark County juries have twice ruled in favor of the Hong Kong businessman over the years, claiming that his links with the government of China and fellow businesspersons from the region were instrumental to the operator’s licensing attempts.
Back in 2008, a Clark County jury ruled that Mr. Suen should receive $43.8 million for his involvement in Las Vegas Sands being granted the said license. However, that initial verdict was vacated two years later. After a 2013 retrial of the same case, Mr. Suen was awarded $70 million. Back then, the gambling giant said that it would appeal the verdict.
As already mentioned, the case is now being considered by the Nevada Supreme Court. A hearing on the matter was held on Tuesday, during which representatives for the operator presented arguments why the claim should be dismissed. They said that the whole case should be overturned as Las Vegas Sands has never been granted a gaming license in the first place. The company currently operates its venues in the administrative region on a sub-concession. And the gambling giant received its sub-concession from Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., one of the three official concessionaires in the city.
In December 2002, Galaxy subsidiary Galaxy Casino had its concession agreement changed in a manner that allowed the company to establish a sub-concession relationship with Sands China subsidiary Venetian Macao SA. Here it is important to note that the differences between a concessionaire and a sub-concessionaire regarding the operation of casinos in Macau are actually very few.
Generally speaking, Las Vegas Sands annually collects 60% of its net revenue and 66% of its profits from its Macau-based properties and the four China holdings operating those.
