China Dismisses Casino Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Macau ‘Influence’
Billionaire and Chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Sheldon Adelson last week testified that he did not authorize former President William Weidner’s offer of a share of the company’s Macau profits to a Hong Kong businessman.
A suit by former business associated Richard Suen claims that he is owed $328 million for helping the company win a license in 2002 to operate casinos in the world’s largest gambling hub.
China, meanwhile, said on Monday that the granting of licenses in Macau is an “internal matter”.
In his opening argument on April 5, Suen’s lawyer, John O’Malley, spoke of meetings he said Suen arranged for Adelson, including one with China’s then-Vice Premier Qian Qichen and with Beijing Mayor Liu Qi where Adelson offered help in defeating a US House of Representatives resolution against awarding the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing.
“The process was carried out by the special administrative region’s government by themselves on the principles of openness and transparency in accordance with the law,” China’s foreign ministry said in response to a query from Reuters.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
