A Las Vegas court has awarded US$43.8 million to Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen Chi-tat as compensation for his efforts to help casino developer Las Vegas Sands win a Macau gaming licence in 2002.
The decision by the eight-member jury in Clark County District Court - announced at the weekend after a five-week hearing - marks a significant legal setback for Las Vegas Sands and chairman and majority shareholder Sheldon Adelson, the world's 12th richest man as ranked by Forbes.
Mr Adelson has in recent years battled lawsuits filed by four separate groups claiming they were owed compensation for helping Las Vegas Sands win a gaming licence in Macau.
Lawyers for Mr Suen and his Hong Kong-registered firm Round Square said he helped arrange meetings between executives from the casino firm and top central government and Beijing municipal government officials.
Mr Suen said his efforts included arranging a July 2001 meeting in Beijing between Mr Adelson and then vice-premier Qian Qichen to discuss the central government's vision for Macau, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In another meeting the same month with then-Beijing mayor Liu Qi , Mr Adelson was asked to help China in its bid to host the 2008 Olympics, the paper quoted him saying in court.
A non-binding statement of opposition to the bid was making its way through the US Congress at the time, and Mr Adelson testified that following the Beijing meeting he called 'four or five' congressmen he knew, according to the ReviewJournal.
