{"id":110691,"date":"2019-07-30T16:20:11","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T23:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=110691"},"modified":"2019-07-31T02:31:35","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T09:31:35","slug":"crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown Resorts to be Investigated by Anti-Corruption Watchdog Over Fast-Tracked Visas for Chinese VIPs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s anti-corruption watchdog is to investigate whether the country\u2019s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) improperly fast-tracked visas for Chinese VIPs on behalf of Crown Resorts.<\/p>\n

\"Crown
Crown Resorts claims it has been \u201cslurred\u201d by media reports this week that have alleged it brought Chinese criminals into Australia to gamble and launder money. (Image: Crown Resorts)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This follows reports<\/a> by Australian current affairs program 60 Minutes<\/em> \u2013 as well as The Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> and The Age<\/em> \u2013 examining the relationship between Crown and Macau-based junket operators, which supplied a steady stream of Chinese high-rollers to Crown\u2019s baccarat tables.<\/p>\n

These reports alleged that some — but not all — of the junkets had relationships with organized crime syndicates, which were \u201cpermitted\u201d to launder money through Crown\u2019s casino operations, allegations Crown denies.<\/p>\n

The DHA has said it had an agreement with Crown to \u201cfacilitate quick visa processing of short-stay visas\u201d for its high-net-worth clients, as it did with many international companies.<\/p>\n

The scheme began in 2003 and ended in 2016, probably a reaction to the arrests in China<\/a> of 19 Crown Resorts employees for marketing gambling to Chinese citizens.<\/p>\n

Chinese President\u2019s Cousin Embroiled <\/strong><\/h2>\n

But the question the Australia\u2019s Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) will be tasked with answering is whether the casino and the DHA conspired to bring known criminals into the country to gamble.<\/p>\n

Among the more colourful allegations in the media this week is that one Chinese high-roller \u2013 classified by Crown as a VVIP (very, very important person) \u2013 was Ming Chai, reputedly a cousin of Chinese President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n

Ming was allegedly aboard a private jet that was raided by Australian authorities in 2016 due to suspicions that some of those on board were involved in money laundering.<\/p>\n

Crown also did business with a junket operator that allegedly had links with a triad crime syndicate known as The Company, which is believed to be responsible for some 70 per cent of all drugs trafficked into Australia over the past 20 years.<\/p>\n

\n

One of its operatives was a mild-mannered financial advisor named Roy Whye Wah Moo, who was imprisoned in 2013 for laundering hundreds of millions of The Company\u2019s dirty money through the Crown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Moo claimed he was trusted with the syndicate\u2019s money purely because of his good standing with the Crown — although this hardly suggests the operator was actively colluding with The Company.<\/p>\n

While Crown Resorts said it would cooperate with all future investigations, it refuted all claims of criminality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe these allegations are ill-informed and an attempt to smear the company,\u201d a Crown spokeswoman said. \u201cIf there is any evidence of unlawful conduct, we encourage individuals or organisations to contact the relevant authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are Junkets Triads?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The link between some of Macau\u2019s junket operators and triad syndicates is no secret, although the extent of their influence on the industry as it exists today is a point of debate.<\/p>\n

A 2016 criminology study<\/a> that interviewed former triad members, police officers,\u00a0Chinese\u00a0officials, and VIP room managers, described its influence as \u201cpervasive.\u201d<\/p>\n

But facing increasing regulatory pressure from the government in Macau and Central Government in Beijing, triads had become more \u201cbank-like\u201d and \u201ccivilized\u201d and had \u201creadjusted their traditional intrusive role and reinvented harmonious business strategies to suit the market reality,\u201d the report concluded.<\/p>\n

While Crown Resorts would have at the very least known about rumoured links between triads and the junket industry, implications in the media that it \u201cpermitted\u201d individuals to launder money through its casinos, thereby jeopardising its license to operate, are currently unfounded — unless ACLEI finds differently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s anti-corruption watchdog is to investigate whether the country\u2019s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) improperly fast-tracked visas for Chinese VIPs on behalf of Crown Resorts. This follows reports by Australian current affairs program 60 Minutes \u2013 as well as The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age \u2013 examining the relationship between Crown and Macau-based junket […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":110692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCrown Resorts to be Investigated by Anti-Corruption Watchdog Over VIPs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crown Resorts to be investigated by Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity following 60 minutes revelations over VIP junkets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crown Resorts to be Investigated by Anti-Corruption Watchdog Over VIPs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crown Resorts to be investigated by Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity following 60 minutes revelations over VIP junkets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-30T23:20:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-31T09:31:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/crowns.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/\",\"name\":\"Crown Resorts to be Investigated by Anti-Corruption Watchdog Over VIPs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/crowns.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-30T23:20:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-31T09:31:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Crown Resorts to be investigated by Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity following 60 minutes revelations over VIP junkets.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-to-be-investigated-by-anti-corruption-watchdog-over-vips\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/crowns.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/crowns.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":719,\"caption\":\"Crown Resorts claims it has been \u201cslurred\u201d by media reports this week that have alleged it brought Chinese criminals into Australia to gamble and launder money. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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