China To File Charges Against Australian Casino Boss, EmployeesCasino Operator Being Investigated For Promoting Gambling |
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Chinese officials have formally arrested a group of Crown Resort casino employees, including an executive, weeks after detaining them amid a crackdown on companies trying to get high rollers to gamble at their offshore casinos.
The arrests were made official on Friday, Bloomberg reported. Investigators from Beijing have another two months to decide if the Crown employees will be prosecuted for allegedly promoting gambling. Casino gambling is only legal in Macau, a special administrative region of China. Australia-based Crown Resorts has three properties in Macau.
The report said that in the past Chinese officials didn’t really enforce the law for foreign casino operators, but with a stagnant gaming market in Macau, which is focusing more on the recreational player than the high roller, the government is more serious about the situation.
Beijing told the Macau industry to cater more to the mass market customer.
Altogether, 18 Crown employees were detained last month. All but two of them have been kept detained for possible charges, according to the report.
More than one third of Crown gaming win in Australia comes from international gamblers.
The report said that Crown had been warned prior to the detention of its employees. Australian officials have pledged support of the Crown workers facing charges.
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