Crown and Aristocrat to Face Slot Lawsuit ASIA & OCEANIA
Crown Resorts stands accused of ‘unconscionable conduct’ by a problem gambler who claims its slot machines displayed ‘misleading and deceptive’ information
A problem gambler has accused Aristocrat’s slot machine, Dolphin Treasure, of being designed to mislead with its paytable
AUSTRALIA CASINO OPERATIONS
JAPAN –Universal Entertainment’s former Chairman Kazuo Okada has been found guilty of three acts of fraud by a Special Investigation Committee.
The three-month investigation concluded that Okada ‘led and conducted the fraudulent acts.’ It said: “As a result of the investigation of the Special Investigation Committee, it has become clear that Mr. Okada led and conducted the fraudulent acts. Mr. Okada committed these acts for his own personal benefit, and it can only be said that this is an extreme intermingling of private and public affairs and that there was a lack of a sense of ethics that one should naturally have as a director of a listed company.”
Universal will now examine the measures it should take against Okada and Yoshinao Negishi, former director and general manager of Universal’s Administrative Division.
“Additionally, based on the results of the investigation by the special investigation committee and its suggestions for measures to prevent the reoccurrence of the acts in question, going forward, the company will proceed to formulate and execute concrete measures to prevent that reoccurrence. Said concrete measures will be disclosed by the company once they have been decided on,” the report added.
The charges of fraud relate to a loan of HK$135m from Tiger Resort Asia Limited to a third party between February and March 2015 for Mr. Okada’s personal gain. The second case of fraud relates to the issuance of check from the third party to Mr. Okada for HK$16m. The third relates to the provision of collateral by Universal Entertainment Korea Co., when Okada borrowed US$80m to help negotiations over the purchase of land for a casino project in South Korea.
Universal added: “Simultaneously, the Director and General Manager of Administrative Division at the Time was found to have been involved in the aforementioned acts by acting on the instructions of Mr. Okada, and it is stated in the investigative report that if the Director and General Manager of Administrative Division at the Time objected to Mr. Okada’s decisions, he might be dismissed from his position or in some cases expelled from the Company Group, so in reality there is room for doubt about the extent to which he could have stopped Mr. Okada. Mr. Okada paid a visit to the home of the Director and General Manager of Administrative Division at the Time to violently intimidate and threaten him with respect to the subject matter of the investigation by the Special Investigation Committee during the period of said investigation as well.”
P38 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM
Australian casino operator Crown Resorts stands accused of ‘unconscionable conduct’ by a problem gambler who claims its slot machines displayed ‘misleading and deceptive’ information. Australian slot giant Aristocrat Leisure has been dragged into what has been described as a landmark case as it is the Aristocrat slot machine Dolphin Treasure that problem gambler Shonica Guy slammed as being designed to mislead with its paytable. She wants the slot machine banned from slot floors in Australia.
Ms Guy, who claims she’s lost 14 years of her life to pokie machines, said: “Tis case is not about seeking compensation for what I lost — I just want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else. What I want this case to show is that the industry knows their machines are addictive and design these machines to get us hooked. I’m looking forward to having my day in court to fight for honesty and fairness in the pokies industry.”
Crown said in a statement: “Crown will vigorously defend any claim.”
Aristocrat said it ‘emphatically rejects any suggestion that its games are designed to
Lotte Tour selects Hyatt for Jeju Dream Tower on Jeju island
South Korea
Lotte Tour Development has selected Hyatt as the hotel operator at its $606m Jeju Dream Tower destined for the island of Jeju in South Korea.
Te two 38-storey towers will boast 1,626 rooms inside the 75-acre facility with a foreigner-only casino on the second floor. Te property, which is being developed in partnership with Chinese real estate firm Greenland Group, is expected to open in the second half of 2018. Te 98,166 sq ft casino will house 420 slots and 190 gaming tables with the overall facility boasting 11 restaurants.
Ki-Byung Kim, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for
Lotte Tour, said: “With the solid partnership that has been formed between Greenland Group, China’s largest property developer and co-developer of this project, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, the world’s largest construction company and main contractor who provided an unconditional complete guarantee, and Grand Hyatt as hotel operator, the Jeju Dream Tower integrated resort is expected to become a major tourist destination on Jeju Island.”
encourage problem gambling.’
Neil Young QC for Crown added that Crown and the Dolphin Treasure slot machine software and display are all regulated by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.
Ross Ferrar, Chief Executive of Te Gaming Technologies Association, said Australia ‘has one of the most stringent regulatory environments for poker machines in the world.’
He said: “Regulators impose comprehensive conditions on every aspect of poker machine design and operation. Poker machines are designed to be entertaining and are a legitimate recreational activity that many Australians enjoy responsibly. Tese standards include requirements that gaming machines not give a player a false expectation of odds, they must accurately display the result of a game outcome and not be misleading, illusory or deceptive.”
“Every aspect of poker machines operation is governed by stringent legislation, regulations and standards to ensure integrity and fairness and that strict oversight is maintained through the life of the machine.”
Macau
Te devastating effects of Typhoon Hato dominated every aspect of the first half results of Macau operator Galaxy Macau apart from the actual results with revenue up by 12 per cent to $28.5bn. Te operator has pledged a $60m contribution including $30m from the GEG Foundation plus a $30m matching contribution from the Lui family. First half adjusted EBITDA came in at $6.5bn, up 37 per cent year-on-year whilst net profit attributable to shareholders was $4.6bn, up 81 per cent year-on-year. Te Group’s total gaming revenue on a management basis in 1H 2017 was $26.4bn, up nine per cent year-on year, total mass table games revenue was $11.4bn, up 15 per cent year-on-year and total VIP revenue was $13.9bn, up five per cent year-on-year. Total electronic gaming revenue was $1.1bn, up 12 per cent year- on year.
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