James Packer concerned for detained staff
Crown Resorts principal shareholder billionaire James Packer says he is “deeply concerned” for employees rounded up by Chinese authorities in a crackdown on gambling.
“I have sought regular updates on this issue and have asked Crown to do everything possible to contact our employees and to support their families,” Packer said yesterday in a public statement.
“I am respectful, that these detentions have occurred in another country and are therefore subject to their sovereign rules and investigative processes.
“Crown will do whatever it can to support our employees and their families at this difficult time. Our number one priority is to be able to make contact and to ensure they are all safe.”
The detention of Crown employees reinforced fears of international casino operators about doing business in mainland China, where it’s illegal to market gambling to Chinese nationals, and sent Crown’s share price into a nose dive on Monday where $1 billion was wiped from its value. Crown shares yesterday closed 1.7 per cent higher.
Mr Packer’s statement coincides with a report from Bloomberg that Crown Resorts was actually warned last year to halt its efforts to attract high rollers from the mainland to gamble overseas. The warning came after China arrested employees at Korea casino operators Paradise Co. and Grand Korea Leisure Co.
At a briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying declined to provide details about the cases against Crown or its staffers and referred questions to Shanghai police.
Crown’s 18 sales and marketing executives were rounded up in China over the weekend for allegedly violating strict laws prohibiting direct marketing of casinos to large groups in China. While casinos are not allowed to advertise on mainland China, Crown can still promote tourism and resorts where its casinos are located on Macau, creating a potential grey area.
Crown has confirmed that its executive vice president VIP International Jason O’Connor was one of the 18 detained.
The Crown employees could face up to 10 years’ prison with China seeking to curtail overseas gambling. China’s leaders have linked overseas gambling to corruption, money-laundering and domestic instability, as many Chinese gamblers who have gone broke have been small business owners.
by Leon Gettler, October 19th 2016
