How China's Macau crackdown threatens big US casino moguls including Sheldon Adelson

[Surya Gayatri]

Exclusive: Investigation reveals how gambling giants made billions against backdrop of triads, vice and corruption in ‘Vegas of the east’


The Venetian – US billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s main resort in Macau. Photograph: Alamy

Macau is serious business – but it’s not all show business. The Macau casino scene has been repeatedly described by US authorities and independent experts as a nexus of money-laundering, triad operations, and an outlet for corrupt Chinese officials to spend the proceeds of their crimes.

But now the Chinese government is cracking down on the corrupt officials and money-laundering through Macau, and the stream of income from high rollers is rapidly drying up.

Such was Macau’s reliance on high-rolling, rather than retail – casual – gamblers that even at Chinese new year, a key date in the gambling calendar, Macau’s overall gaming revenues were down almost 50% on the year before.

If Macau’s casino and resort industry is to survive the crackdown, it has to change: the ultra-rich gamblers may not be there in such numbers as before, but the culture of luxury gambling trips, known as junkets, and fears of the ever-present triads in the background – remain. Macau needs to reform, fast.

Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands faces the same challenges as its US and locally owned rivals, but is perhaps the furthest ahead in facing those challenges. Its bid to reshape its Macau business focuses on bringing in more retail gamblers, revamping its casinos as bigger resorts with shopping malls – and the backing of brand Beckham provides the face of that drive.


David Beckham appearing in an advertisement for The Venetian Photograph: PR

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/23/how-chinas-macau-crackdown-threatens-big-us-casino-moguls-sheldon-adelson
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Does Beckham know what kind of RW bottom feeder he's fronting for?

[okaawhatever]

1. I'm surprised Beckham is entwined with this guy. I wonder if their politics are similar? nt