The Chinese gamblers ploughing millions into Crown Casino

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This was published 7 years ago

The Chinese gamblers ploughing millions into Crown Casino

By Sarah Danckert
Updated

A quick sift through recent court judgments sheds some light on why Chinese authorities might be concerned about Crown Resorts' junket operations. Sydney's Star Casino too has had its brush with money laundering crimes by Chinese nationals.

In one case, it was the purchase of a Lamborghini Aventador coupé by Chinese-Australian businessman Ming Qing Wang that caught the Australian Federal Police's attention.

Purchased through a junket account set up through Crown Casino, the Lamborghini raised eyebrows. The AFP took action in the Supreme Court of Victoria to seize the car and obtain orders to examine the man and his associates.

Melbourne-based Wang had struck a deal with a friend from China, Lang Tao Ying, who regularly travelled to punt at Crown Casino's VIP facilities on junkets. The pair split their gambling winnings.

A Lamborghini Aventador was the prize purchase of a Melbourne man who gambled with his Chinese friend suspected of money laundering.

A Lamborghini Aventador was the prize purchase of a Melbourne man who gambled with his Chinese friend suspected of money laundering.

Ying was a 'whale', a big-time gambler, the exact type of punter Crown Resorts' staff in mainland China had been hunting when they were arrested this week on alleged gambling crimes.

The whale had ploughed millions into the casino over several years and in 2012 had come up trumps with an $11.99 million haul.

Wang took his cut and purchased the luxury car in 2013, but it wasn't long before the AFP came calling.

The car was seized and examination orders granted against Wang on the suspicion it may have been bought using "proceeds or an instrument of the crimes of money laundering or tax avoidance occurring during gambling activity on casino junket tours", according to Supreme Court of Victoria Justice Rita Zammit.

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The investigation is understood to be ongoing and Ying, being based in China, is not expected to be examined.

But Ying is not the biggest of China's 'whales' to swim to these shores.

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