For the second time in a year, casino developer Las Vegas Sands Corp will defend itself in a Nevada courtroom against claims it promised an equity stake in its Macau business in exchange for help in winning a gaming licence in the enclave in 2002.
On Monday, a jury in the Clark County district court in Las Vegas begins hearing arguments over a lawsuit filed by three businessmen from the United States and Macau. They claim they were promised a 5 per cent interest in the company's Macau operations in exchange for helping to pair Las Vegas Sands and Galaxy Entertainment Group in their successful joint-venture bid for one of three casino licences Macau awarded in February 2002.
The plaintiffs suing Las Vegas Sands include Macau property developer Jose Cheong Vai-chi, who was a member of the territory's 2004 chief executive selection committee. He, along with younger brother Cheong Vai-kei, is a lifelong friend of Macau chief executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah, according to the sworn depositions of his co-plaintiffs.
The other two parties to the claim are Clive Jones, a former partner at Los Angeles-based Economics Research Associates, and Darryl Turok, a South African native and former accountant with Arthur Andersen who was based in Los Angeles.
Both men focused on the gaming industry and had been working on potential casino projects in Macau since the mid- to late 1990s. At the time, they were seeking to broker a partnership with Stanley Ho Hung-sun's then monopoly casino outfit.
The trio claim to have helped arrange a last-minute deal between Galaxy and Las Vegas Sands in late January and early February 2002 that resulted in their winning a gaming licence on February 8 that year.