Macau gaming magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun is an associate of known and suspected triads who has permitted 'organised crime to operate and thrive within his casinos', according to a report by the New Jersey state attorney general's Division of Gaming Enforcement.
The 88-year-old billionaire, who headed Macau's casino monopoly for over four decades, has counted alleged members of the 14K and Sun Yee On triad societies among his associates, the 74-page report, made public on Wednesday, says.
The private VIP gambling rooms Ho introduced to his casinos beginning in the 1980s 'provided organised crime the entry into the Macau gaming market that it had previously lacked', it says.
The report was filed by the DGE in May last year, and classed as confidential. It followed a four-year investigation into the suitability of casino operator MGM Mirage's Macau joint venture with Ho's daughter Pansy Ho Chiu-king. It was made public on Wednesday by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission as part of a divestment settlement with MGM in which the New York-listed firm agreed to sell off its 50 per cent stake in the 2,771-room Borgata casino hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
For years, law enforcement and regulatory officials in Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and the US have suspected or alleged ties between criminal syndicates and Stanley Ho's Macau casino business. But the New Jersey regulators' report contains the most high-profile allegations to have emerged publicly.
Stanley Ho has repeatedly denied links to organised crime and has never been arrested or convicted. He remains under medical supervision after being discharged from hospital this month following a seven-month stay after an operation to remove a blood clot in his brain.
'Dr Ho has not seen the report and does not want to speculate on what it contains,' a spokeswoman said yesterday. 'This is an issue for the regulatory authorities and MGM. But his position on the record is clear that there is absolutely no foundation in any suggestion that he is associated with organised crime or triads.'