Melco Crown subsidiary indicted over illegal Taiwan cash transfers

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office has charged a subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertainment Limited over allegedly illegal transfers of large sums of money between Macau and Taiwan, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The indictment said that the Taipei branch of Hong Kong-based MCE International Limited – which is a subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertainment Limited – transferred over USD194 million, allegedly violating foreign exchange controls and committing financial oversight.
The funds are believed to have been transferred on behalf of high-rollers looking to gamble at City of Dreams and at Altira casinos.
The indictment also said that the conduct of MCE International and other defendants is suspected “to have harmed this country’s financial order.”
Money transfers allegedly took place between July 2009 and January 2013, while Rowen Craigie, Crown Limited’s chief executive, was a director of MCE International.
The indictment implicates four present and former employees, including the branch’s current “responsible official” Wang Yen-sheng, and his predecessor Sung Hou-shuan.
It also implicates a Taiwanese couple who established the Bo Ying VIP room at City of Dreams, in an operation linked to Chen Ying-chu – which, according to GamblingCompliance, was regarded as “one of Asia’s leading underground gambling kingpins.”
In a statement issued upon the release of its second-quarter earnings last week, Melco Crown said that it hadn’t yet received the “formal indictment document.” Furthermore, the company reiterated that they would “vigorously defend any indictment brought against us.” “As based on Taiwan legal advice received, we believe our operations in Taiwan are in compliance with Taiwan laws,” they added.
The statement also said that Melco Crown will be monitoring the case, and will make further disclosure “as and when appropriate, as this case develops.”