22 January 2009

MacauÃ¢â¬â¢s City of Swindlers

MACAU Ã¢â¬' Australian casino tycoon James Packer may not be able to rely on return visits from all of his high rollers when his keenly awaited Macau casino City of Dreams opens later this year.

The Melbourne Age reports that revenues at high-roller casinos in Macau are down due to a lack in repeat business because many of their big-spending patrons don't make it back to the tables for the roll of the dice.

According to a study of 99 high rollers from mainland China whose gambling habits propelled them into the headlines, 44 percent were either sentenced to death, murdered, committed suicide or were serving long jail sentences after committing crimes to fund their visits.

Zeng Zhonglu, a professor at the Macau Polytechnic Institute, found 15 of the gamblers were sentenced to death, seven committed suicide or were "killed by others", two were given a death sentence reprieve and 20 were serving long jail sentences.

At least 10 Chinese companies collapsed, casualties of the massive gambling losses by big-spending players, known in the industry as "whales".

Of the group Mr Zeng followed, more than half worked for the
Chinese Government or state owned enterprises.

The theft of state funds by government workers is believed to have triggered the Chinese Government's clampdown on issuing visas for visits to Macau, a move that has been blamed for the slump in gaming revenues. t

The officials followed reported losing an average of $US2.7 million each while 19 senior managers at state-owned enterprises lost $US1.9 million each.

Seven cashiers at state-owned businesses shed an average of $US500,000.