MGM Mirage, accused by New Jersey authorities of having links to the Chinese mob, has sealed a plan to exit the weakened Atlantic City market in favor of the booming Chinese gambling center of Macau.
New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement had accused the company last year of questionable conduct in associating with Pansy Ho (何超瓊), the daughter of Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho (何鴻燊), who they said is linked to Chinese organized crime.
Pansy Ho is a 50 percent partner with MGM in its MGM Grand Macau casino. MGM’s plan to sell its stake in the Atlantic City Borgata casino and give up its New Jersey gambling license, first proposed last month, was approved on Wednesday by state regulators.
“From the beginning of its efforts to enter Macau, MGM pursued partnerships with persons that it knew were associated with those aspects of gaming in Macau most heavily penetrated by organized crime,” the enforcement division said in a previously confidential report released on Wednesday.
The report from the New Jersey enforcement division cites documents such as 1992 testimony at a US Senate Subcommittee hearing stating that Stanley Ho had direct associations with known members of Chinese triads.
It concluded that Pansy Ho’s relationship and financial ties to her father, as well as “her associations with persons alleged to be associated with organized crime render her susceptible to influence by unsuitable persons.”
The report also said Las Vegas-based MGM’s conduct in pursuing and consummating the Macau joint venture “raises concerns about its commitment to corporate regulatory integrity.”
The gaming enforcement division said MGM’s due diligence and compliance efforts were deficient.
MGM is laying the groundwork for an initial public offering of shares in the joint venture.
Gambling revenue in Macau, which overtook Las Vegas several years ago to become the world’s No. 1 gambling center, rose nearly 70 percent in the first two months of this year. In Atlantic City, hurt by new competition from states like Pennsylvania as well as the recession, gambling revenue fell 25 percent between 2006 and last year.
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