GGRAsia – Insufficient evidence to bar CTFE for Brisbane casino scheme

Insufficient evidence to bar CTFE for Brisbane casino scheme

May 03, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

The authorities in Queensland, Australia, have decided there is “insufficient evidence to conclude” that Hong Kong firm Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd (CTFE) or its relevant associates “are unsuitable” to be 25 percent investors in the Destination Brisbane Consortium, an entity that holds a casino licence for the yet-to-be-opened The Star Brisbane (pictured).

The Star Entertainment Group Ltd, the firm that will operate The Star Brisbane casino at Queen’s Wharf Brisbane, issued on Thursday a brief statement, attaching the three-page decision issued by the Queensland government.

Thursday’s decision was made by Queensland’s Attorney-General, Yvette D’Ath.

An August 2022 report from the Australian Broadcasting Corp had reiterated long-standing links between the Cheng family – the founder of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises – and the late Stanley Ho Hung Sun, founder of Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd. Mr Ho had been subject to scrutiny by authorities in several countries, over alleged links to Chinese organised crime groups.

More particularly, the ABC broadcast had mentioned the link of a Cheng family investment vehicle with a Vietnam casino project in which Alvin Chau Cheok Wa was once an investor.

Mr Chau, former boss of Macau junket business Suncity, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Macau court in January 2023, for illegal gaming, criminal association, and fraud.

After the ABC report, the-then Queensland attorney-general, Shannon Fentiman, had said the issues raised by the broadcaster were “incredibly concerning”. In September 2022, she ordered the state’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) to investigate the suitability of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.

The regulator had previously cleared the investors in the Queen’s Wharf casino scheme – including Chow Tai Fook Enterprises – in inquiries held between 2014 and 2015.

The new investigation took place over 16 months, from October 2022 to February this year.

Thursday’s statement said: “It involved consideration of the adverse media allegations which included that CTFE was associated with a person of poor repute, and who was arrested in Macau and later convicted there for significant fraud perpetrated against the Chinese government.

“That association was said to arise because (among other reasons) CTFE and the relevant person each held an interest (although not directly) in a casino project in Vietnam.

The document added: “Another matter the subject of the investigation was whether CTFE concealed that relationship in its dealings with the regulator, OLGR.”

In its Thursday statement on the follow-up investigation, the Queensland government said that the current Attorney-General had determined “that the evidence fell short of establishing that Chow Tai Fook Enterprises knew that the relevant person was a person of poor repute during the period of the association”.

It didn’t identify by name “the person of poor repute”.

Though the new finding added: “The allegation that the relevant person was of poor repute during this period lacked probative value given it was based on suspicion, rumour, and hearsay.

“On that basis, the investigation did not substantiate any motive for Chow Tai Fook Enterprises to intentionally conceal that business association from the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation.”

Thursday’s statement also cleared the original suitability inquiry.

It said: “An external private firm specialising in financial investigations has reviewed the sufficiency of the original suitability investigation conducted by OLGR, forming the view that the investigation was conducted with diligence, due care and appropriate scope and that the findings of that investigation were reasonable and consistent with the evidence gathered by the investigation team.”

The Queen’s Wharf Brisbane project, including its casino, is due to open in August, according to The Star Entertainment. The consortium involves another Hong Kong-based company, Far East Consortium International Ltd.