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Casino group connected to Crown deal embroiled in bribery probe - 25th January 2020

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James Packer and Lawrence Ho are now both expected to appear before the inquiry.

By Staff reporters

A Macau casino operator vying for half of James Packer’s stake in Crown casinos has become embroiled in a political bribery investigation in Japan.

News of the investigation came hours after sweeping changes to Crown’s board were announced in Australia.

Asian media outlets reported yesterday that authorities had seized documents from the Tokyo office of Melco Resorts and Entertainment between January 17 and 20.

The reports said the raids related to a public prosecutor’s investigation into a Japanese parliamentarian, Tsukasa Akimoto, who was arrested on January 14 on suspicion of accepting a bribe from a Chinese corporation.

Melco confirmed to The Sunday Age that the raids had taken place but had no further comment.
On Friday, Crown Resorts’ most senior board member John Alexander stepped down as executive chairman of the embattled casino group as part of a sweeping governance overhaul.

The company also announced that former Liberal senator and current board director Helen Coonan would take over as non-executive chairman of Crown. Chief financial officer Ken Barton will be elevated to chief executive officer and former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou will become chairman of Crown in Melbourne.

The changes come as Crown faces intense scrutiny from a public inquiry into the company and the future of its casino licence in Sydney.

That in turn followed revelations in The Age that Crown went into business with ‘‘junket’’ tour operators linked to organised crime.

Mr Packer, Crown’s billionaire controlling shareholder, has been called to appear at the inquiry as has Mr Alexander.

Mr Packer struck a deal last year to sell almost half his stake in Crown to Melco Resorts for $1.7billion, which now hangs in the balance.

That deal – to sell a 20 per cent block of Crown shares – would be the most significant step Mr Packer has taken in his retreat from corporate life, following his resignation from the Crown board and his private investment company in 2018 because of mental health issues.

At the time of the sale in May last year, Melco signalled it was interested in taking full control of the company, which could have resulted in Mr Packer making a complete exit.

That came hot on the heels of aborted takeover talks with US casino giant Wynn Resorts.

Staff reporters

(The Sydney Morning Herald)