Global gaming conglomerate Las Vegas Sands Corp was hit on Thursday with a US$9 million fine under US anti-foreign bribery laws for poorly documented payments the company made involving China investments.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the company, which owns leading casinos in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore, had improper controls over and insufficient records of payments made to a frontman helping it buy a Chinese basketball team and invest in Beijing real estate in the 2000s.
That violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the SEC said of a broad law aimed at preventing US companies from engaging in corruption abroad.
In chasing the deals — neither of which ultimately went through — Las Vegas Sands had little solid documentation for more than US$62 million in payments to a “consultant,” also called a “beard,” helping arrange the China business, the SEC added.
“Despite concerns by some employees that the real estate purchase was solely for political purposes, approximately US$43 million in payments were made to the consultant without research, analysis, or proper approval,” the SEC said.
In addition, it cited large payments for “property management fees” when no property management services were performed, and US$1.4 millon for “arts and crafts” when no art was ever bought.
Although the consultant was not identified, widespread reports from 2009 to 2012, when allegations of bribery first came out, identified the company’s key China agent as the well-connected businessman Yang Saixin (楊塞新).
The SEC, which began investigating the case in 2011, said the fine was for failing to implement adequate controls over payments.
The case cast a shadow over the Chinese business of Las Vegas gambling tycoon Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Sands chairman and chief executive, and a powerful supporter of conservative causes in US politics.
The company said in a statement that it did not admit or deny the probe’s findings, but agreed to the fine and to strengthen internal controls and record-keeping.
“The SEC made no finding of corrupt intent or bribery by Las Vegas Sands,” it said. “The projects were orchestrated through a consultant, whose activities under a former company president and other former employees were not sufficiently monitored.”
The company also said the SEC probe arose from claims made in a lawsuit against it by Steven Jacobs, who headed its Macau operations before being fired in 2010.
The two sides are still fighting that legal battle in a Las Vegas court.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
RSS