Chinese High Roller Settles Lawsuit with SkyCity, Junkets Over Missing $4.84M
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MayChinese High Roller Settles Lawsuit with SkyCity, Junkets Over Missing $4.84M
A Chinese high roller who filed a lawsuit against Australia’s Sky City Adelaide and two junket operators in 2021 over the claimed misappropriation of roughly A$4.84 million (US$3.1 million) in casino winnings has reached an out-of-court settlement.
Hong Kong and Shanxi province multimillionaire Linong Ma took legal action against the casino and junket operators Xiongming Xie and Zhuangqian Fang. That occurred following a May 2019 gambling trip to SkyCity that Fang had organized.
According to the complaint, Xie, based in Sydney, operated the junket using the license of Fang, who is based in China.
Purported Connections to Organized Crime
The lawsuit alleged that Xie was connected to organized crime, was prohibited from entering any casino in Australia, and had “significant gambling debts” at that time.
Based on earlier media reports, Xie is a former deputy of the junket operator and organized crime figure Tom Zhou, whom Australian officials have associated with money laundering, foreign influence schemes, extortion, and human trafficking.
In 2019, Xie was charged with crimes in Australia for allegedly assaulting a man with a knife while insisting on the transfer of a property worth A$10 million (US$7.75 million).
Ma’s lawsuit claimed the victim was “stabbed … nearly to death.”
What Might Happen Inaccurately?
Ma arrived at SkyCity on May 21 alongside a junket VIP hostess identified as “Ms. Goh” in legal records.
Chinese VIPs usually transfer money to junkets through banks before their journey. This provides them with credit as non-negotiable "rolling chips" in VIP areas of casinos.
Ma first “withdrew” A$400K (US$257K) in gaming chips from the junket to participate in baccarat. The lawsuit states he quickly lost A$370K (US$238K).
The following day, he loaded up with an additional A$600K (US$385K) worth of chips and experienced a winning streak, racking up over A$5 million (US$3.2 million) in winnings beyond his initial stake.
At this moment, Ma wished to redeem his chips, but he was informed that the process couldn’t be completed until the next Monday, as stated in the lawsuit.
The businessman needed to go back to Hong Kong for his son's graduation, so SkyCity staff stored the chips in a safe deposit box. Ma asserts that they informed him that he was the only one permitted to access the box.
Unapproved Transfer
Ma intended to go back to Adelaide, where he had business interests, a few weeks later to gather his winnings. However, on May 29, an individual at SkyCity sent the chips to Xie, who allegedly returned only A$1.46 million to Ma, according to the lawsuit.
Ma filed a lawsuit against Sky City for negligence and breach of trust, while also suing Xie and Fang for fraud concerning the missing millions.
This week, SkyCity and Xie reached a confidential settlement, as reported by Adelaide Now. The Supreme Court of South Australia granted a summary judgment in favor of Fang, who failed to participate in mediation.
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