Australian Queensland authorities found there was "insufficient evidence to conclude that it was inappropriate" for Hong Kong firm Chow Tai Phuong Enterprises (CTFE) or its affiliates to become 25% investors in Destination Brisbane Consortium, which holds casino licenses for its yet-to-open Star Brisbane (pictured).
Star Entertainment Group, the company that will operate Star Brisbane casinos in Wharf Brisbane, Queensland, issued a brief statement on Thursday attaching a three-page decision issued by the Queensland government.
Thursday's decision was taken by Queensland Attorney General Yvette D'Ath.
An August 2022 report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reiterated a long-standing connection between the Cheung family, founder of Chow Tai Phu Enterprises, and the late Stanley Ho Hung-sun, founder of Macau casino operator SJM Holdings. Ho has been investigated by authorities in several countries for alleged links to Chinese organised crime groups.
In particular, ABC mentioned the link between the Vietnam casino project, where Alvin Chau-Chukwa once worked as an investor, and the Blue Family Investment Organization.
Mr Chow, a former president of Macau junket Business Suncity, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in a Macau court in January 2023 on charges of illegal gaming, criminal organisation and fraud.
Following the ABC report, then Queensland Attorney General Shannon Fentyman said the issues raised by the broadcaster were "enormously concerning." In September 2022, she ordered the State Liquor and Gaming Regulatory Agency (OLGR) to investigate the suitability of Chautai Phuk Enterprises.
Regulators previously authorized investors in the Queens Wharf casino system, including Chautai Phuk Enterprises, in an investigation conducted from 2014 to 2015.
The new survey was conducted over a 16-month period from October 2022 to February this year. 실시간 바카라사이트
A statement on Thursday said: "We had to take into account unfavorable media claims, including that CTFE involved a disreputable person and was arrested in Macau and later convicted of grave fraud committed against the Chinese government.
"The association says it happened because (among other reasons) CTFE and the person involved each had a stake (though not directly) in the Vietnamese casino project.
The document added: "Another issue for the investigation was whether CTFE covered up these relationships in its dealings with the regulator OLGR."
The Queensland government said in a statement on Thursday its follow-up investigation that it found the current attorney general "lack of evidence that Chautaipuk Enterprises knew that the person involved was a disreputable person during the association."
