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UNIVERSAL CLEARED OF ILLEGALITY
Universal Entertainment Corp and Kazuo Okada have been cleared of all charges relating to illegal payments to regulators
Philippines - New projects
Universal Entertainment Corp has been cleared of making any alleged illegal payments to Philippines regulator PAGCOR to smooth the development of its US$2bn Manila Bay Resorts.
SRI LANKA – EGT AND BALLYS COLOMBO INSTALL Euro Games Technology has entered a new market in Sri Lanka with Ballys Colombo casino becoming the first local operator to discover the potential of EGT’s progressive jack- pot system Egypt Quest.
The casino, located in the heart of the capital city, near the beautiful Beira Lake, has been offering five-star entertain- ment since 1995. It is part of the gaming Bally group led by investor Dhammika Pereras. The casino was traditionally table games oriented, predominantly offering roulette. Now it is gradually introducing slot machines.
The casino opted to install eight P-24/32V Up EQ cabinets. This is expected to be followed by more jackpot and stand- alone solutions.
A spokesperson for EGT said: “The Egypt Quest system suc- ceeded in gaining the preference of Ballys Colombo casino because of its reliability and its bonus game with wild venture thematic unfolding in a world of heated sand and ancient artifacts. While enjoying it, together with a multigame mix of high visual performance, the players are on their way to win one of the four levels of jackpot: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Since the installation the EGT cabinets had a busy time, being occupied most of the day. The immediate feed- back received highlighted their good performance, pleasing look and feel, and enjoyable experience of the multigame variety.”
MACAU - SANDS CHINA CEO SURPRISE RETIREMENT Sands China, the largest foreign casino operator in Macau, has announced the retirement of Edward Tracy as President and CEO ahead of the opening of a new resort.
The appointment will take effect March 6, the Hong Kong-listed com- pany controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson said in a stock exchange filing. Tracy, 62, has been leading the company for more than three years and will stay on as a consultant, it said, adding he had no disagreement with the company. It is expected the Sheldon Adelson will take over as Sands China CEO. Mr. Adelson said in a separate e-mailed statement that the management change comes as Sands prepares to open, as early as this year, its fifth casino in Macau. It is one of the first new projects to open after the city suffered its first annual drop in revenue as China’s anti- corruption crackdown crimped spending by high-end play- ers. New properties are expected to help operators to drive back traffic and boost revenue.
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Universal, led by Kazuo Okada, blamed news service Reuters for the investigation for what it termed ‘partial and inaccurate reports’ and said it would be taking legal action although it has dropped charges against rival operator Wynn Resorts. The company stated: “Universal hereby announces that the Prosecutor of the Philippines has proposed to the Secretary of Justice to termi- nate the groundless suspicion that our group may have offered bribes to officials of PAGCOR since the Fact Finding Panel consisting of officials of the National Bureau of Investigation and the National Prosecution Service has stated in its final report that there is insufficient evidence to support the suspicion after a yearlong investigation.”
Universal has filed pending action against a Japanese subsidiary of Reuters with the Tokyo District Court.
The operator added: “It was decided on December 16, 2014 not to institute prosecution against Mr. Okada, Chairman of the Board of the Company, against whom a criminal complaint and charge had been filed by someone with the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office for bribery to foreign officials.
It was unfortunately decided on December 16 not to institute prosecution against Wynn Resorts, for circulation of rumours, Steve Wynn, for circula- tion of rumours, defamation and harm to public trust, a former official of our group for fraud and professional embezzlement and Mr Shunsuke Yamaoka for defamation and harm to public trust against whom the company had filed criminal complaints or charges with the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office. However, while the civil case the company had filed against a former employee of our group is pending at Tokyo District Court the company will continue investigation, such as col- lating additional evidence into the outflow of US$30m caused by a former employee of our group.”
The final point refers to a report in July 2013 when Universal said a former director changed minutes of a meeting to make it look like executives had approved a US$30m payment.
Mr. Okada, who was once Wynn Resorts’ biggest single shareholder, was forcibly stripped of his 20 per cent of the company by Mr. Wynn amid claims of Mr. Okada making illegal payments and offer- ing gifts to regulators this breaching US anti-cor- ruption laws.
Las Vegas Sands receive final approvals for Parisian Macao
MACAU Las Vegas Sands has announced that the company’s majority- owned subsidiary, Sands China, has received the Macao govern- ment approvals needed to com- plete the construction of its US$2.7bn Paris-themed inte- grated resort.
The completion of The Parisian Macao will bring Las Vegas Sands’ total investment in Macao to more than $10bn with
the vast majority of that invest- ment spent building, among other things, expansive retail malls, convention and exhibi- tion space and thousands of hotel rooms. Las Vegas Sands opened Macao’s first integrated resort — The Venetian Macao — in 2007. The 10.5m sq. ft. prop- erty was the first truly integrat- ed resort to open since The Venetian Las Vegas, which opened in 1999.
“From the moment we put our first shovel in the ground we have been committed to helping Macao secure its future as a center for leisure, business and entertainment. Our investment has provided tens of thousands of new jobs in areas such as retail, entertainment and hotel operations. We’ve enabled local companies and suppliers to grow their businesses and we’ve helped the government expand its tax base and diversi- fy its economy. The Parisian Macao is 100 per cent consistent with that vision and we look forward to families taking pic- tures in front of our Eiffel Tower in the near future,” said Las Vegas Sands and Sands China’s Chairman Sheldon Adelson.
Parisian Macao will feature more than 3,000 hotel rooms and suites, more than 490,000 sq.ft of retail space, diverse food and beverage offerings, new meeting and convention facili- ties and a 50 per cent scale replica of the Eiffel Tower.
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