Court upholds Venetian action against ex-Greek Mythology casino director

Venetian Macau Limited (VML), owned by gaming concessionaire Sands China Ltd., has had its legal actions in Macau against Chen Mei Huan, former director of the closed Greek Mythology Casino, upheld by the Court of First Instance.
The court announced on March 1 that Chen is in a state of bankruptcy and is ordered to repay the debt she owed to VML within 60 days. However, the whereabouts of the woman is unknown.
Previously, VML filed a lawsuit against the woman in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong court ruled against Chen in 2014, ordering the woman to repay a debt of HKD117 million to the Macau company.
In March 2019, as the woman could not repay the debt, VML filed another lawsuit with the Hong Kong Judiciary, asking the court to issue a bankruptcy order against the woman.
The lawsuit, however, was not accepted by the Hong Kong Judiciary. It justified its refusal on the grounds that Chen had no business operations in Hong Kong between 2016 and 2019, which left the court with no jurisdiction over the situation.
According to the Macau court, Chen’s latest known residences or addresses are located in several places across the city, which includes residential and commercial buildings such as the Iat Teng Hou Commercial Center and the Edifício Wang On in Fai Chi Kei.
Chen started a company with Ng Man Sun, the former owner of the then New Century Hotel and the casino, to invest in the real estate market in Hong Kong. In 2006, Chen invested more than HKD100 million into the company to purchase the then New Century Hotel.
In 2014, Ng and Chen mortgaged the hotel to an offshore company owned by Alvin Chau, current boss of the Suncity Group, for a loan of HKD1.5 billion. They failed to repay the debt to Chau, so Chau obtained the ownership of the hotel.
However, Ng argued that Chen sold the hotel privately, making Chau’s acquisition of the hotel difficult.
In 2013, Chen was arrested by the Judiciary Police over allegations of issuing dishonored cheques totaling HKD3 million.

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