The Chinese arm of US billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s gambling empire is being investigated by Macau privacy authorities over its handling of documents related to a lawsuit by its former CEO, who claims the company has links to crime bosses and encourages prostitution as part of its business strategy.
Sands China Ltd said yesterday it was notified by Macau’s privacy watchdog that an official investigation has been launched into the alleged transfer of “certain data” from the Asian gambling city to the US.
The former CEO, Steve Jacobs, was fired in July 2010 and filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit three months later. He accuses the company of breach of contract and pushing him into illegal activity in Macau. The suit has drawn interest from US Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission investigators for possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Photo: Reuters
Sands China revealed no other details about the privacy investigation. The probe follows statements by Jacobs in US legal filings that Las Vegas Sands Corp, which is the parent company of Sands China, withheld documents related to his wrongful dismissal lawsuit.
Jacobs’ legal team has been seeking the documents from Las Vegas Sands, which the company’s lawyers initially said could not be moved out of Macau. However, they revealed recently that the files had been transferred in error more than a year ago, without notifying Macau or US authorities.
Macau has stringent privacy regulations that require consent and notification of authorities before personal data can be transmitted out of the territory.
A judge in the US has scheduled hearings for Aug. 30 and 31 on possible sanctions against Sands and its lawyers for failure to disclose the information to the other side.
Macau is the world’s biggest gambling market, raking in US$33.5 billion in casino revenue last year. Sands also operates casinos in Singapore as well as the Venetian and Palazzo casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, but its four Macau casinos account for the bulk of the company’s revenue.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS