Corruption | US trade union points mainland graft officials to local junket-linked companies

U.S.-based trade union, the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), yesterday sent a second communication to Wang Qishan, head of the CCP’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), highlighting financial enterprises with opaque ties to the Macau junket operator “Neptune”, according to an email from Macau Gaming Watch.
As detailed in the press release, the financial companies, a Hong Kong-based firm called “Royal Bullion” and its wholly-owned subsidiary in Shenzhen, named “Goldman Sachs (Shenzhen) Financial Leasing”, are controlled by family members of Cheung Chi Tai.
Furthermore, the release explains how public records show that Mr. Cheung and his family have had numerous ties to the “Neptune” gambling operation in Macau.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Cheung has historically been “one of the biggest shareholders” in the VIP operator Neptune Guangdong Group, which has claimed interest in as many as 15 high roller clubs in the city.
Based on the IUOE’s research findings, Mr. Cheung’s relatives Cheung Chun Pong and Ng Chor Yam established the precious metals trading company “Royal Bullion” in Hong Kong in September 2009.  Royal Bullion advertises itself as a “strategic partner” with the VIP gaming enterprise Neptune Guangdong Group and the Hong Kong listed junket investor Neptune Group.  Royal Bullion later set up a wholly owned foreign subsidiary, “Goldman Sachs (Shenzhen) Financial Leasing”, across the border in Shenzhen which claims to be the city’s largest foreign financial leasing company.
In the release, IUOE spokesperson Jeff Fiedler noted, “First of all, we do not believe this Shenzhen-based firm set up by the Cheung family has any relationship whatsoever with the New York financial institution Goldman Sachs.”
“That said,” he continued, “these enterprises appear to be yet another access point for the Cheung family’s involvement in the Neptune gambling operation.”
Mr Fiedler went on to say, “It is these types of ancillary financial institutions, operating on both sides of the border and working in tandem with Macau’s junkets, that we are highlighting for the Party’s Discipline Inspection agency.”