Marina Bay Sands bans former executive from property

In a recent LinkedIn post, Andrew MacDonald, the chief casino officer of Resorts World Sentosa, revealed he has been banned from entering the premises of Marina Bay Sands (MBS) in Singapore.

According to MacDonald’s post, MBS issued a “persona non grata” notice July 31, effectively prohibiting him indefinitely from accessing any of the property’s facilities.

Previously, MacDonald worked for Las Vegas Sands, the parent company of MBS, for nearly 12 years before stepping down at the end of 2021, during which he made monthly visits to the Sands properties in Macau.

Gaming media outlet Inside Asian Gaming (IAG) reported the ban was issued due to concerns MacDonald may have been trying to poach customers and employees during a series of visits to the MBS property in late July, just before the ban was implemented.
MacDonald has denied these allegations, stating that his visits were purely social and that he was accompanied by a close friend, Mike Sugrue, a former executive at Crown Melbourne.

He acknowledged he did interact with two high-value players during these visits, but claimed it was purely by coincidence.

MacDonald and Surge also said he encountered some MBS executives to help assist with their restaurant reservations but said the situation was nothing more than that.

In response to the incident, an MBS spokesperson clarified to the media outlet that the decision to restrict access to the property was not made lightly and that the resort has stringent protocols in place to help guide it through such actions.

The sudden ban on the former global chief casino officer has raised eyebrows in the industry, as it is relatively uncommon for such high-profile executives to be barred from competing properties. Victoria Chan