Genting: 3 senior staff face charges

This is the financial partner of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts, as well as Foxwoods, Seneca, and operator of Aqueduct. Genting is heavily investing to invade Florida by making generous campaign contributions and hire Gambling Lobbyists, many of whom were previously lawmakers.

3 senior staff face charges

People queuing to enter the casino at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).

By Rennie Whang
The New Paper
Saturday, Sep 15, 2012

While investigating Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) for one breach, Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore (CRA) inspectors detected another set of alleged crimes.

It all began when RWS was found giving incentives to locals who bought or renewed the annual entry levies.

CRA then discovered that certain documents submitted by RWS staff could have been forged, and that false or misleading information could have been provided.

The cases were referred to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), which started investigations on Sept 19 last year.

The senior vice-president of Gaming Services Department, Lee Poh Yee, and the vice-president of VIP Services, Gaming Services Department, Lim Tze Chean, will be charged by CAD on thursday for allegedly providing false information to CRA inspectors.

Lim will also be charged with alleged forgery.

The assistant manager of VIP Services, Gaming Services Department, Sim Bee Ling, will be charged with alleged abetment of forgery.

Lee and Lim remain suspended from their duties, while Sim has been on no-pay and maternity leave.
The former director of a school of tourism and hospitality, Mr Kelvin Yeo, said one of the primary roles of a VIP services staff member is to look after high rollers.

"Some (high rollers) could be determined by how high their stakes are. For others, it could also be their expenditure on hotel rooms, food and beverage."

An RWS spokesman said the company acknowledged the compliance breaches.

Once the company was aware of the breaches, it appointed a Board of Inquiry to conduct a full and independent investigation, as well as recommend changes, she said.

"Measures put forth by the Board of Inquiry have since been implemented, including staff training on compliance policies, and the setting-up of a compliance committee."

Incentives given  In the earlier breaches, staff members at RWS gave incentives such as hotel accommodation and Universal Studios Singapore tickets to locals for over four months, when they bought or renewed annual entry levies. For partially reimbursing the cost of these levies, Resorts World was fined S$600,000 by the CRA. RWS had also failed to submit details of this marketing programme to CRA, contravening CRA requirements. Under the Casino Control Act, local casino patrons - Singapore citizens and permanent residents - are required to either pay an annual entry levy of $2,000 or a daily entry levy of S$100 per 24 hour entry to the casinos. Casino operators are prohibited from refunding or reimbursing the entry levy, whether directly or indirectly. CRA chief executive Lau Peet Meng said it had, after discovering the breach, asked RWS to review its casino marketing programmes and promotions to ensure there are no further entry levy reimbursements. "While we note that RWS has put in place measures to strengthen its compliance processes as a result of this breach, CRA is sending a clear signal to the operator that they should comply fully with the social safeguards put in place to protect locals," he said. Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry S Iswaran said CRA will continue to closely monitor and assess the casino operators' compliance with Singapore's legal and regulatory requirements. This is the second time RWS has been fined for reimbursing entry levies.
In 2011, it was fined S$200,000 after CRA found a senior manager had reimbursed entry levies paid by local reporters covering the launch of RWS's Ladies Club.

http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Crime/Story/A1Story20120913-371375.html