Junket fraud case may amount to at least HKD330 million

Dore Group investors petition outside China’s liaison office in Macau

The Judiciary Police (PJ) is investigating complaints from several parties including a junket operator on funds they were cheated out of, amounting to HKD330 million (USD43 million), spokesmen confirmed when asked about the Wynn Resorts Ltd. junket theft.
Apart from the junket operator Dore Entertainment, 30 other people including from Macau and mainland China have filed complaints. Authorities are probing areas including the use of blank cheques and breach of trust, according to the police statement, without naming the junket or casino involved.
The sum was less than previous speculation that put the total as high as USD258 million. Some individuals have indicated they lost money with Dore Entertainment, an independent company that operates high-end gambling rooms at the Wynn Macau casino, Grant Govertsen, an analyst at Union Gaming Group, wrote in a research note Tuesday, citing local police. Some also protested in front of the property over the weekend.
News of the loss prompted a drop in Wynn Resorts shares last week, as analysts and investors speculated the incident may reduce the amount of money Dore and other junket operators have to lend to their customers. The shares have recovered the past two days, gaining 2.8 percent Tuesday to close at $70.35 in New York. Wynn Macau gained yesterday 4.2 percent to HK$10.90 in Hong Kong, joining a rebound of the gaming stocks led by Galaxy (+6.3%) and Sands China (+4.7%).
Wynn Resorts has said it didn’t lose any money and isn’t owed any by Dore, while Govertsen wrote that the losses will probably be limited to the junket operator and its investors. Wynn, based in Las Vegas, said in an e-mail it hadn’t heard any concrete numbers.
Dore confirmed last week that a former employee had stolen money from the company and said it filed a police report. The company’s VIP rooms at Wynn were still operating as usual, Govertsen wrote.
Junket operators have played a major role in turning Macau into the largest gambling hub in the world. They bring high- rollers from the mainland to the casinos and lend them money to play, a critical role in a market where money transfers and debt collection are restricted. MDT/Bloomberg