Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming April 2016 42 Manila Casinos Used to Launder Money in Huge Cyber-Theft The Philippines is considering tighter legislation after its casinos were used to launder most of US$81 million stolen from Bangladesh’s central bank in one of history’s largest cyber-thefts. At a special Senate committee public hearing convened to probe the incident Emmanuel Dooc, a lawyer for the Philippines Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), criticized “gaping holes in our laws.” The head of the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission Teresita Herbosa meanwhile said her office would push for current rules to be expanded to include the country’s casinos. The thieves first stole codes belonging to Bangladesh’s Central Bank by hacking into its computer system. Then on February 4 and 5 they used the codes to transfer the money from the bank’s account with the Federal Reserve of New York to four accounts opened under false identities with the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in Manila. After this the money was converted into pesos, withdrawn on February 9 and used to buy untraceable chips at three casinos. Banking secrecy laws hampered the Senate hearing, preventing the RCBC even from disclosing details of the dummy accounts. The AMLC said one billion pesos (US$21 million) of the money was deposited with a Chinese-Filipino junket operator Kim Wong, who said he was handling it for two Chinese high-rollers Gao Shuhua and Ding Zhize. The AMLC is now coordinating with the Chinese government to find Gao and Ding. It is filing charges against Wong, who has returned US$4.63 million and denies wrongdoing. The rest of the money has vanished. The Philippines revised its existing anti-money laundering law in 2013. At the time, however, lawmakers and the country’s gaming regulator Pagcor successfully argued against including casinos on the grounds that doing so would deter investment. This month a report from the US State Department labelled the Philippines casino industry as “a weak link” in the country’s Anti-Money Laundering regime. Macau’s former Prosecutor General charged with corruption Macau’s former top prosecutor Ho Chio-meng was arrested and charged with fraud, gaining illegal economic advantage, power abuse and document forgery. The city’s Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) said that between 2004 and 2014, while Ho was Prosecutor General of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, he and former colleagues took at least MOP$44 million in kickbacks in return for awarding construction projects worth MOP$167 million. Ho held REGIONAL BRIEFS Sands China Introduces Employee Transfer Scheme Macau’s biggest casino operator Sands China unveiled an internal transfer scheme for its employees amid falling industry recruitment and concerns about layoffs. According to a company press release “My Way”, as the program is called, will offer 1,000 gaming team members training and transfer to non-gaming positions at Sands China properties in work including food and beverage, security, business development, wardrobe, guest relations, housekeeping and facilities. The scheme will be voluntary, Sands says, with participants working in their new roles for two or three years, with the option to return to their original positions at 30 days notice, or remain in their new jobs upon completion of the program. So far, the company said, 1,200 local team members have shown interest, with more expected. “Sands China is pleased to offer this latest career development opportunity for its local team members,” Senior Vice President of Human Resources Antonio Ramirez was quoted as saying. “This is our latest effort to invest further in them, providing new opportunities to broaden their career horizons with new skill sets, training and experience – all while supporting Macau’s diversification and growth as a world center of tourism and leisure.” Talking to local media, however, Vice President of the labor group Forefront of Macao Gaming Lei Kuok Keong said his members feared layoffs from the table dealer sector, as the city’s 21 month-old gaming slump was putting pressure on operators to cut costs. While casino dealer positions in Macau are reserved for permanent residents of the city, the government’s Statistics and Census Service recorded a 4.4% drop in such jobs in 2015, with no vacancies in the fourth quarter. Industry-wide, only 376 new employees were hired over the three months, down 81 percent from the same period in 2014. Sands operates three casinos in Macau, with a fourth due to open this year in November, and employs 27,000 staff in gaming and non-gaming positions. In recent months several other gaming operators have also introduced schemes to allow casino staff to move to non-gaming jobs. The Macau Special Administrative Region’s unemployment rate is an exceptionally low 1.9%.