Supplier News
China – Leaked report slammed by Sands as being ‘like a movie script’
By Phil - 22 July 2015
A ‘highly confidential’ report, leaked to the Guardian newspaper in the UK, claims that casinos owned by Sands China were used by US agents to ‘entrap and blackmail Chinese officials.’
The report, by a private investigator in 2010, claims that officials in Beijing believed US-owned establishments in Macau were frequented by CIA officials.
It said: “Many of the officials we contacted were of the view that US intelligence agencies are very active in Macao and that they have penetrated and utilised the US casinos to support their operations. A reliable source has reported that central Chinese government officials firmly believe that Sands has permitted CIA/FBI agents to operate from within its facilities. These agents apparently ‘monitor mainland government officials’ who gamble in the casinos. This source also reported that several PRC (Peoples Republic of China) government bodies have reported ‘evidence’ of ‘US agents’, operating from Sands, ‘luring’ and entrapping mainland government officials, involved in gaming, to force them to cooperate with US government interests.”
Macau’s crackdown on corruption has been well publicised with strict restrictions put in place to curb gambling by public officials and politicians.
The report suggests that officials who ran up large gambling debts were then open to ‘pressure’ by foreign intelligence agencies.
It claims that officials in Beijing interpreted this as US attempts to influence events in Macau. Beijing reportedly rejected bids to open a US consulate in Macau as it saw this as an attempts to ‘interfere in local politics.’
The report, which was carried out by a private investigator in June 2010, was discovered by the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California amongst Sands courts documents being prepared for a civil court case by the former head of Sands’ Macau casinos, who is suing for wrongful dismissal.
“A source of considerable concern is, according to a well-placed Beijing government contact, an internal Central Government agency report that estimates some US$2bn is annually gambled away by serving Chinese government officials visiting Macao,” the report added. “There is a widely held perception amongst officials that Sands serves the interests of the US government in Macao.”
Ron Reese, Sands senior vice-president for global communications and corporate affairs, slammed the document’s content as being ‘like an idea for a movie script,’ adding it was ‘meaningless speculation’ and ‘much ado about nothing.’
A Nevada judge recently ruled that a sealed legal exhibit in the wrongful sacking case against Sands would remain sealed. Guardian News & Media, the Campaign for Accountability and union Unite Here claimed the exhibit should be made public.
Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez dismissed the motions without prejudice saying legislation gave her the power to keep commercially sensitive material private. The Guardian however claims that the document it has read is another document entirely and has gone to the lengths of publishing it on its news site.
