At first, the men had been ordered to break the arms and legs of a dealer at Sands Macau suspected of helping a patron cheat millions of dollars from the business. Later, a call went out to murder the dealer, court records show. But then one of the gangsters balked and reported the plans to authorities.
The plot’s mastermind, according to testimony in previously undisclosed court transcripts obtained by Reuters, was Cheung Chi-tai. At trial a witness identified Cheung as a leader of the Wo Hop To — one of the organized crime groups in the region known as triads.
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Cheung was not just named as a triad member but also, according to a regular casino patron testifying in the trial, “the person in charge” of one of the VIP rooms at the Sands Macau, the first of three casinos run here by Las Vegas Sands. In addition, Cheung has been a major investor in the Neptune Group, a publicly traded company involved in casino junkets — the middlemen who bring wealthy clients to Macau’s gambling halls. Documents show that his investment allowed him a share in the profits from a VIP gambling room at the casino.
An examination of Hong Kong court records, U.S. depositions from the former president of Sands, and interviews with law enforcement and security officials in both the U.S. and Macau, reveals a connection between Las Vegas Sands and Cheung — ties that could potentially put Sands in violation of Nevada gaming laws.
The Reuters investigation is a collaboration with the Investigative Reporting Program at University of California, Berkeley.
Read the full report on Reuters
Read also Reuters report targets Sands’ ties in Macau by Las Vegas Review Journal
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And here I thought we were ahead of the curve with our formalized gangs in power… :P
guess who is a bigger mafia? It’s the one that control the legal system…sometimes dressed in white.
This is nothing surprising, gambling gaming dens are infested with, if not directly link to triads. Strictly speaking, casino belongs to the vice industry, as is prostitution. It is just that we refuse to admit this fact. Singapore Pools is also running vice dens in all the 4D, Toto, footbal betting outlets, aren’t they? The only difference is that they have been baptised and thus becoming a legal entity.
When we think vices, we think triads involvement, no? Triads can also be well dressed u know?
Nah, make the money. Worry the problems later. And nothing million dollars or million dollars salary cannot handled. Game on!
it’s quite simple, actually.
if anything goes wrong, it’s because of the pesky Singaporeans.
like how Singaporeans allowed Mas Selemat to limp and swim to Johor.
Don’t worry……MIW newspapers will spin stories to whitewash LVS.
PAP are the biggest gangsters Singapore, these kuching kurap triads and secret societies will tremble at the might of the PAP. Mess with the lightning, and Old Man Zeus will strike you down.
The $100 casino levy is also the most ultimate form of protection money. I also learnt that casino earnings are heavily taxed by the government, especially the VIP gaming portion of the business.
Wo Hop To? More like Woh Hup oyster sauce.
..hehheh.. are we supposed to be surprised?
It has nothing to do with Sands. The Board did not give the instruction to kill or beat up any one. If a casino employee took matter at his own hands, then it is the employee who should be charged.
The Casino Regulatory Authority is under Ministry of Home Affairs. The Minister in charge of this is therefore Minister Wong Kan Seng.
The situation is tricky as this report by Reteurs was carried by major newspapers like Guardian, Washington Post and the New York Times. The Neveda Gaming Comission will be obliged to investigate and there is the high chance that they will find that the LV Sands is linked to the triads.
In a related story, MGM which runs the MGM Mirage was found by the New Jersey Casino Control Comission to be linked to organised crime via Pansy Ho, daughter of Stanley Ho. As the Macu operations are so profitable, MGM chose to leave Atlantic City rather than end the relationship with Pansy Ho. The date when this story broke was 18 Mar 2010.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aqZga1sai1Lg
From the Reuters article, it can be seen that is is very difficult to run a casino operation in Macau without involvement with the triads. This is especially the junket business as China has imposed strict controls that prevent Chinese travellers from carrying more than US$5,000. The triads are crtical to provide not only credit but enforcement services. Without the triads assistance in enforcement, the junket operator operating out of China would not be viable due to bad debts.
To be fair to Minister Wong, he has so far taken a very rigourous approach to enforcement of the Casino Control Act. RWS has been operational for a while and no junket license has been issued in spite of intense lobbying by RWS. A recent article by Citibank showed that out of 700 plus tables at RWS, only about 200 plus are operational. This is largely due to the stringent background checks on would be dealers at the casino. Although the Sands is due to soft launch on 27 Apr 2010, a check with the CRA website shows that the casino license has not been issued. If the links to the triads are true, it is therefore entirely possible that license will not be issued pending further investigations.
If the casino license is not issued, then the viability of the Sands IR would be seriously in doubt. The IR needs to generate US$750 mil in the first year to make debt repayments. Casino earnings are expected to abbount for almost 75%.
Give it a while more…when the project appears to be failing and egos are at stake. Then it will be anything goes. Junkets, prostitutes, ATM, pawnshops whatever…it will be like Vegas in the Asia…..
The careers of this current administration is staked on the 2 IRs being successful. Right now there is still room to take the moral high road as operating costs have not yet racked up to the tipping point and they have got an election to win.
Does anyone really believe that the casino licences will not be granted??? Come on…stop kidding ourselves….
If it needs to be, I do not rule out that the $100 charge will be dropped and turn into a $100 credit for people to go and gamble…..
Come on…..
@My Views Mar 31, 2010 4:38
>>It has nothing to do with Sands. The Board did not give the instruction to kill or beat up any one. If a casino employee took matter at his own hands, then it is the employee who should be charged.
This is like saying punish the ah long’s runner because it is the runner who splash paint, write o$p$, etc, and not his boss, because his boss didn’t tell him explicitly to do it…
The Casino Control Act is quite clear. The casinos are not supposed to have an “associates” with this kind of background. If they do, they cannot be granted a license to operate the casino in Singapore.
Previously, RWS had tried to sneak in Pansy Ho. They were ultimately made to end their association before the license would be granted.
I see all this links as potential problems for Singapore. But shouldn’t the gahment have done their due diligence first and assess the risk involved. Were these links already known right from the start ?
If so, then it is time for the leaders to explain how this is addressed. If they did not know then, it is time for WOng Kan Seng’s head to roll.
Good for singapore, soon triads will be setting up their base here and WKS is going to hide somewhere else. Try asking the boys to go and catch these triads, they will tell you “boss, you go first”
We have seen triad bosses and their kakis (who are operating casino ships at international seas around Singapore) dressed to the nines in respectable business suits looking like respectable businessmen at prestigious places in Singapore.
Casino business are triad related businesses, they also include prostitution, ah longs, and drugs.
Minister Wong Kan Seng will be kept very busy as long as he occupies this hot seat, two extra hot places to keep an eye on.
I hope Minister Wong will do the right thing. If LV Sands cannot break their Macau triad connections, he should not issue the casino license. Better to cut loss now than to let this problem fester and grow.
The following is Today’s version of the Reteurs report. Notice the attempts to downplay and cast doubt.
http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC…dto-Macau-gang
The following is an update from Reuters. As expected, LV Sands is now being investigated by the US authorities.
Nevada regulators analyzing Macau casino activity
LOS ANGELES, March 31 (Reuters) – Nevada’s Gaming Control Board said on Wednesday it was analyzing the status of VIP room operations in Macau casinos and possible links to Chinese criminals.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3122976020100331
//My Views
Yeah right, an employee will go to the extent of killing someone for what 10K, 20K?
Is it not easier to find another job?
What a naive pretentious fool?
@My Views, Mar 31, 2010 4:38
“”…It has nothing to do with Sands. The Board did not give the instruction to kill or beat up any one. If a casino employee took matter at his own hands, then it is the employee who should be charged….”
What a naive person. Ever heard of the Nuremburg trials? This is exactly the non-accountability we have today. When MKS escaped, the top echelons quickly buffered themselves, saying it is the guards that were responsible. Sure, WKS didn’t actually supervised the facility/detention center, as much as Hitler didn’t actually push people into gas chambers in the concentration camps. Yet in good times, when private companies and individuals have good bonuses, then it is accredited to our “good” govt! This is pure hypocrisy!
In Singapore, when a pet dog bites a neighbour, the OWNER can be charged. When your neighbour accidentally pushed over your flower pot placed on the floor landing, YOU can be charged. When a mosquito lay eggs in a puddle of water on your premises, YOU can be charged. Are we having double standards when it involves our MIW?
On whether LVS is involved with the triads, lets wait for more info & developments in the US proceedings.
Recently, Reuters did an article on how the Las Vegas Sands are related to the Chinese triads. The following article explains the way in which the “VIP” rooms are run in Macau and how the triads are involved.
At the heart of the triad involvement in Macau casino gambling is the “Bate-Ficha” or “dead chip” business model. Under this business model, the casino operator sells a large number of “dead chips” to a third party. In casino parlance, “dead chips” are gambling chips which can only be used to play casino games; they cannot be exchanged for cash. Such “dead chips” are usually sold at heavily discounted rates.
The third party which purchased the “dead chips” are usually given a “VIP” room within the casino. The third party then proceeds to attract gamblers to this “VIP” room where they will re-sell the “dead chip” to gamblers at a profit.
To attract gamblers, the third party normally works with junket operators. The junket operators are crucial for the success of Macau casinos due to the strict currency controls China has implemented. Travelers leaving China for Macau are only allowed to carry US$5,000. High rollers who wish to gamble more than this amount must therefore have access to a credit line at Macau. This credit line is normally provided by the junket operator.
The “Bate-Ficha” business model has allowed the Chinese triads to infiltrate casino gambling in Macau. Their involvement is at 2 levels:
1) As third party operators of the “VIP” rooms
2) As junket operators.
For more details on the “Bate-Ficha” business and junket operations, please refer to the following url:
http://www3.austlii.edu.au/au/journa…JJ/2002/5.html
As in all business where the triads are involved, it is not possible to be in the “Bate-Ficha” business or be a junket operator without triad links. Intimidation and physical violence are frequently used as means to expand and secure business operations.
Within HK, there are currently 4 major triad groups. These are Sun Yee On, 14K, Wo Hop To and Wo Shing Wo. Stanley Ho has known links with Sun Yee On and 14K. Through his daughter Pansy Ho, he has set up a joint venture with the American casino operator MGM. The triad links were recently exposed by the gambling authorities in Atlantic City. As their business in Macau is so profitable, MGM chose to exit Atlantic City rather than end their association with Pansy Ho. For more details, please refer to this article by Bloomberg.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p…d=aqZga1sai1Lg
From the Reuters article, it would appear the Las Vegas Sands has links with Wo Hop To. Since the Reuters article was published, the Las Vegas Sands has come under investigation by US gambling authorities. For more details, please refer to the following articles:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62S34020100329
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3122976020100331
Technically the triads involved in these operations are NOT part of the casinos in Macau. The casino is therefore able to put up the fiction that they are “clean”. Under Singapore’s Casino Control Act 2006, the triads may however classified as associates due to the amount of power they exercise over the casinos. For more details on the Casino Control Act 2006, please refer to the following url:
http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_versi…thod=part&sl=1
Govt in a delimma, give licence against the act, don’t give licence Sands will fail and public will loose confidence of our govt. Good govt usually falls when they profit from vice.
Approval for casino operation in Singapore is a desperate move for this Govt.
They could not back-stepped now, they are now trying to downplay this disastrous
report. Triad involvement or not, casino licence would ultimately be given, after
some wayang show of concern and questionings.