This is Mitt Romney's Supporter

From: http://www.classwarfareexists.com/billionaire-under-criminal-investigation-for-possible-violations-of-the-u-s-anti-bribery-law/#axzz22KcFJscc

PBS Newshour explains what has been found and how the investigation is working…

Watch Did GOP Money Man Sheldon Adelson Violate Bribery Law? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

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Macau investigates Sands China over privacy breach in lawsuit by ex-CEO

AP, HONG KONG

A logo of Sands Cotai Central is seen on a gaming table inside a casino on the opening day of the Sands Cotai Central, Sands’ newest integrated resort in Macau, on April 11. The Macau government has launched an investigation into Sands China, after the firm transferred documents linked to a wrongful dismissal case to the US from Macau.

Photo: Reuters

The Chinese arm of US billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s gambling empire is being investigated by Macau privacy authorities over its handling of documents related to a lawsuit by its former CEO, who claims the company has links to crime bosses and encourages prostitution as part of its business strategy.

Sands China Ltd said yesterday it was notified by Macau’s privacy watchdog that an official investigation has been launched into the alleged transfer of “certain data” from the Asian gambling city to the US.

The former CEO, Steve Jacobs, was fired in July 2010 and filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit three months later. He accuses the company of breach of contract and pushing him into illegal activity in Macau. The suit has drawn interest from US Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission investigators for possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Sands China revealed no other details about the privacy investigation. The probe follows statements by Jacobs in US legal filings that Las Vegas Sands Corp, which is the parent company of Sands China, withheld documents related to his wrongful dismissal lawsuit.

Jacobs’ legal team has been seeking the documents from Las Vegas Sands, which the company’s lawyers initially said could not be moved out of Macau. However, they revealed recently that the files had been transferred in error more than a year ago, without notifying Macau or US authorities.

Macau has stringent privacy regulations that require consent and notification of authorities before personal data can be transmitted out of the territory.

A judge in the US has scheduled hearings for Aug. 30 and 31 on possible sanctions against Sands and its lawyers for failure to disclose the information to the other side.

Macau is the world’s biggest gambling market, raking in US$33.5 billion in casino revenue last year. Sands also operates casinos in Singapore as well as the Venetian and Palazzo casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, but its four Macau casinos account for the bulk of the company’s revenue.


http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2012/08/02/2003539216

Genting bears watching

The Malaysian investor, Genting, has funded the Mashpee Wampanoags' recent expensive adventures in Massachusetts and their action below bears note.

This is speculation --
An alternate theory is that the company is simply tightening its belt in light of diminished revenues at many of its worldwide properties. Last summer, the company reported big revenue drops at its Singapore and UK based operations.

Rumors have widely circulated about Genting's desire the dump the Mashpee Wampoags.

Additional information --

Mashpee tribe unveils $500m casino plan - Featured Articles From ... TAUNTON - In the latest turn in the state's high-stakes gambling scrum, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe unveiled details of its proposed casino Thursday, ...articles.boston.com/.../31403383_1_mashpee-wampanoag-trib...

Mashpee tribe unveils Taunton casino plan | Mobile ... TAUNTON — The Mashpee Wampanoag unveiled a casino proposal Thursday that would be about the half the size of Mohegan Sun, one of two Indian casino ...m.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/...

Reel Wamps


Genting Drops US Affiliates

04/27/2012 by Brian K. Trembath in Online Casino News

Genting Affiliates is dropping its US based affiliates, becoming the second company in just a month to leave American partners in the dust. The company behind gaming brands; including Genting Casino, Genting Poker, Circus Casino, and Circus Poker made the announcement in an e-mail sent to partners earlier this week.


Unlike Expekt, the other high profile company dropping US partners, Genting officials have said that they will, in fact, honor their lifetime revenue agreements to their former partners. This stands in stark contrast to the actions of Expekt, which seems to have shuttered its affiliate program earlier in the month by keeping players but dumping partners (note: this has yet to be confirmed or denied by Expekt).


Though company officials weren’t specific about why they’re shutting down, a Genting representative posting on the CAP Forum to assure affiliates that payments would continue. “We will be leaving all US affiliate accounts open and payments on players sent already will continue as long as those players continue to play in our casinos. Be assured that all commissions will continue on your existing player base, lifetime rev share still means lifetime rev share,” GentingAL posted yesterday.


How to Deal with Closed Affiliate Programs


Why Shut Down US Partners?
Genting, it should be noted, is no fly-by-night operation. They’re the force behind some of Asia’s biggest land-based casinos including Resorts World Malaysia. Some forum posters speculated that the company is dropping affiliate partners in countries where it has land-based operations.


The company did recently buy up $500 million worth of property in Miami in the hopes of one day building a huge casino complex there. But despite their purchase, casino gambling is not yet legal in the state of Florida.


An alternate theory is that the company is simply tightening its belt in light of diminished revenues at many of its worldwide properties. Last summer, the company reported big revenue drops at its Singapore and UK based operations.

Finally
Genting should be commended for its handling of this situation. Too often we see affiliate programs take a very cavalier attitude towards their partners and their commitments to lifetime revenues. It’s hardly a perfect situation for affiliates who have sent players to Genting, but it’s about as good as they could hope for.

Something for Nothing is just that

The Gambling Industry is known for promising Something for Nothing and seeking concessions, expansions, reduced regulations, eliminate consumer protections, and then some....

Stick to the script!

Parties warn against Sky City deal

Opposition parties are urging the government not to change gambling laws through a deal with Auckland's Sky City.

Approval was given six months ago for Sky City's plan to build a $350 million convention centre in return for it being allowed to increase the number of gaming tables and pokie machines in its casino.

Negotiations have been going on since then and it's been confirmed they'll be ramped up in coming months.

Labour's Auckland issues spokesman Phil Twyford says "chequebook legislation" isn't the New Zealand way.

"Most Kiwis will find it repugnant that the government should put the commercial interests of a multi-national corporation ahead of the best interests of New Zealanders," he said on Friday.

"It's good news that Auckland is likely to get a new convention centre but it isn't good news if the government is going to sign off legislation which will allow Sky City to install a whole heap of extra pokie machines and gambling tables."

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the deal would amount to deregulation of the gaming industry and leave behind "a legacy of social wreckage for future generations to clean up".

Details of the negotiations aren't being revealed because they're commercially sensitive but Mr Peters says Sky City wants up to 900 more pokie machines and more relaxed controls on advertising gambling.

Keep casinos out of Japan

Keep casinos out of Japan

A group of lawmakers is now considering a bill that would allow resorts to combine their hotel, shop and restaurant complexes with gambling. If the bill passes, casinos could become a Japanese industry worth several trillion yen.

With the government facing an expensive reconstruction bill from the March 11 disasters, the Japanese government is even more vulnerable to the intensive lobbying efforts of the international gambling industry.

Casino revenue may seem like an easy source of revenue, but the problems associated with gambling taking root as a social habit and as an established industry are extensive. It is unlikely that gambling will solve the serious long-term challenges of the Japanese economy. Many of the companies pushing for legalizing casinos are based in Macau, Singapore or Las Vegas.

If the gamblers are Japanese and the companies foreign, that will mean gambling revenues can easily become a net outflow of cash from Japan, a possibility made even more likely by fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. There is little assurance the cash flow will be in the right direction.

Casino operators argue that the industry will create jobs, but gambling is just as susceptible to the economy as any other industry. Those jobs do not necessarily result in a larger stimulation of the entire economy, nor do they prime the pump of consumer spending or contribute substantially to other industries. The amount of money spent on other leisure, consumption or recreation activities may also suffer a downturn when personal budgets are spent on gambling.

Gambling can become a serious addiction, bringing with it a host of social problems. Last fall, the former chairman of Daio Paper Corp., Mr. Mototaka Ikawa, was arrested after he siphoned funds from his subsidiaries to cover ¥10 billion in gambling losses.

It should be remembered that no matter how the finances are structured or regulated, profits for the casino always come from losses by individuals.

Supporters may argue that Japan already allows gambling on pachinko, lotteries and various forms of racing. However, adding large-scale casinos inside hotel complexes will be a considerable expansion and encouragement of gambling.

As with tobacco, long a source of government tax revenue, the long-term problems, such as addiction, potential corruption and little economic benefit, weigh much more heavily than the short-term income of tax revenue. Casino gambling will not solve any of Japan's long-term economic problems, which demand more reasoned and productive solutions.

Top 10 Things Gambling Promoters Are Thankful For

No Casinos offers its suggestions for why casino promoters are thankful
We are a push over for cleverness, especially when it's wrapped in holiday twist. So we offer you this from John Sowinski, head of the Disney-backed No Casinos:

With Thanksgiving upon us, we’re asking the question:
What are the Top 10 things casino promoters are thankful for this year?

NUMBER 10: Genting is thankful that the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms was not at last weeks’ Committee meeting when Genting President Colin Au etched his name in Florida history by becoming the first person to use the word “bull$#!*” , not once, but twice in formal testimony.


NUMBER 9: The rest of the casino lobbying gang is thankful that he didn’t drop the F-bomb while he was at it.

NUMBER 8: Las Vegas Sands lobbyists are thankful that they haven’t yet had to explain to Floridians why the company is the object of an ongoing federal investigation, and why, exactly, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Justice Department are trying to find out if the Sands violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

NUMBER 7: Wynn lobbyists are thankful that nobody from their company is currently using obscenities in front of legislative committees or under investigation by the feds.

NUMBER 6: Genting is thankful that land is cheap, and the dollar is low so that even if the legislature rejects casinos, they still got a good deal on some prime real estate.

NUMBER 5: Bill sponsors are thankful that most Floridians are cordial people with enough self-control to not laugh out loud when they claim that Florida has to expand gambling in order to control it.

NUMBER 4: All gambling promoters are happy that memories are short, so very few people remember that last time there was an effort to legalize mega-casinos in Florida, the sitting Speaker of the Florida House wound up on the payroll of a casino company and went to federal prison for, among other things, failing to pay taxes on the cool $250,000 in casino money he was paid.

NUMBER 3: Casino kingpins are thankful that nobody’s bothered to tally the social costs tied to expanding gambling in Florida—including the cost of regulation, crime, business destruction, counseling and treatment of addicted gamblers, support for destitute families, lost productivity, etc, etc, etc.—because once those numbers come out, it will be clear that taxpayers will be picking up the tab when casinos cannibalize existing businesses and drain millions out of the Sunshine State’s economy.

NUMBER 2: Gambling interests are thankful that Florida’s economy is really bad right now, so that they can try to pass off mega-casinos as a boon for our economy, even though Nevada leads America in the unemployment rate (30% higher than Florida’s), foreclosure rate (400% that of Florida’s) personal bankruptcy rate, auto theft rate, assault rate, suicide rate, and on, and on, and on.

AND THE NUMBER ONE THING Casino promoters are thankful for: having a chance to prove PT Barnum right on his famous words: “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Posted by Mary Ellen Klas

Don't worry. No one will notice.

Beacon Hill leaders, mired as usual in a public display of backroom deals, secret meetings with predatory gambling interests, will never notice what transpires around them.
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A tone deaf Speaker of the House and a Senate President who readily acknowledges she would never read anything that's anti-casino are in charge of what exactly? Everything?

.

.

There are many truly dedicated and informed elected officials overshadowed by this caliber of leadership. What a shame for us all!

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They'll never notice!
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Where have all the Indian gaming profits gone?


Isn't it interesting that the people who have made the most money off of Indian gaming in Connecticut aren't even American Indians.

The big money off the top at Foxwoods, 9.9 percent of adjusted gross income through 2016, has been going to the rich Malaysian family that put up the first $58 million to build a casino on the Mashantucket Pequot reservation.

The deal was brokered by G. Michael Brown, the savvy New Jersey gambling lawyer who was hired by the Pequots to find someone to finance their casino and who - ta-da - came up with his own clients, the Lim family of Malaysia.

Certainly the Lims are forever grateful to Brown for helping tap so deep and for so long into the Pequot golden goose.

Indeed, even as a recession-battered Foxwoods struggles under the onerous terms of the original Lim loan deal, Brown continues to profit by his associations with the Malaysians.

He was part of the deal in which the Lims put up money seven years ago for the Seneca Indians to build a casino at Niagara Falls. The $80 million, five-year loan had a whopping 29 percent interest rate.

More recently, Brown was the Malaysians' point man in a deal to take a near-controlling share in a racetrack and casino in Monticello, N.Y., that includes an interest in a proposed casino resort by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

And in Massachusetts, the Malaysians have surfaced as the new partners of the Mashpee Wampanoags, who are hoping the state may soon legalize casino gambling. Surely Brown, the Malaysians' U.S. counsel, is behind the scenes in that deal, too.

The other big winners in Connecticut Indian gaming are the original partners of the Mohegan Indians, including local developer Len Wolman and the South African gambling king Sol Kerzner.

Kerzner and Wolman didn't make out so well with their $690 million investment in the Twin River slots hall in Rhode Island, which is mired in bankruptcy.

But their investment in Trading Cove Associates, the original managers of the Mohegan Sun, continues to pay them handsomely. In fact, the partners are making far more off the casino than tribal members.

Under the terms of a controversial buyout of the managers' original contract, the tribe continues to pay the Trading Cove investors 5 percent of annual gross revenues through 2014, a deal that has been estimated to be worth up to $ 1 billion.

Wolman and Kerzner had been working with the Wampanoags in Massachusetts until they were muscled aside recently by the Malaysians.

According to reporting by the Cape Cod Times, Wolman and Kerzner had signed a deal with the now disgraced Wampanoag chairman (he's serving time for federal embezzlement and corruption charges) that would have earned them three times as much money from a Massachusetts casino than the tribe.

It's hard to feel sorry, though, for the losers in a battle of the leeches.

I'm sure the Malaysians won't make much less.

How did this happen?

And how did a rich Malaysian family, the origins of its Asian-Pacific gambling monopoly murky, escape any state or federal regulatory scrutiny here and manage to extract obscene profits from an industry that even today is not welcome in many places?

Those would be good questions for all of the lawmakers who have sat idly by while it happened or for those in Massachusetts, where it may be about to happen all over again.