{"id":901,"date":"2021-03-17T04:53:48","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T17:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uberpokies.org\/?p=901"},"modified":"2021-03-17T04:59:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T17:59:31","slug":"skycity-adelaide-faces-legal-onslaught","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uberpokies.org\/skycity-adelaide-faces-legal-onslaught\/","title":{"rendered":"SkyCity Adelaide faces legal onslaught"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wealthy Chinese businessman, Linong Ma has levelled a lawsuit against two junket operators and SkyCity Adelaide. The legal action follows allegations that the junketers, Xiongming Xie and his associate, Zhuangqian Fang, defrauded Ma to the amount of A$4.84 million and that Xie has close ties to organized crime.<\/p>\n
For SkyCity Adelaide\u2019s part, the operation is accused of breach of trust and negligence.<\/p>\n
Junket gambling in a nutshell<\/strong><\/p>\n Junkets were invented in the 1950s and provide casinos with high profile clients that they effectively scout in exchange for a monthly commission, provided the clients produce an expected level of profit for the house. Once these punters return to where they came from, the junket and the casino will settle any outstanding balances.<\/p>\n Chinese Junket clients pay money to junkets via bank transfer before they embark on their trips and these amounts are converted into \u201crolling chips,\u201d non-negotiable tender accepted at VIP rooms of specific casinos.<\/p>\n This practice subverts the Chinese government\u2019s disdain at large sums of money being taken out of the country and allows high rollers to sail past any potential bureaucratic obstacles.<\/p>\n The events leading up to the filing of the lawsuit paint a sordid tale of deception.<\/p>\n Ma arrived at SkyCity Adelaide on May 21st, 2019 as part of a junket put together by Zhuangqian Fang. Ma later began to strongly suspect that Xie was actually behind the operation and using Fang\u2019s junket license to obscure his role.<\/p>\n Ma was accompanied by a Ms. Goh on his junket, an individual identified by the lawsuit as being \u201cemployed or engaged by Mr. Xie as an escort or hostess for high-rollers.\u201d A Ms. Zhang, also apparently employed by Xie, was also present, playing Baccarat<\/p>\nThe set-up<\/strong><\/h3>\n