Judge Asked to Unseal Report on Sands Alleged Macau Mob Ties
A Clark County district judge has been asked to unseal documents that reveal business ties between Las Vegas Sands Corp and high-ranking members of Chinese triads. Two different organizations have made the requests.
Both the Guardian News and the Campaign for Accountability, a new nonprofit watchdog organization, have filed separate motions to intervene and unseal records in a wrongful termination case filed by former Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Ltd. executive Steven Jacobs.
More specifically, the two parties have asked the judge to unseal what is known as the Vickers Reports, which were compiled by a former Hong Kong police official.
Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson is among the world’s wealthiest and most influential men. He is also considered to be a GOP mega donor.
From the Las Vegas Review Journal:
Both motions argue that the reports involve matters of extreme public interest: possible business ties between Sands companies and Cheung Chi Tai and Heung Wah Keung, alleged organized crime figures in China.
According to the Campaign for Accountability, which filed its motion Monday, the group seeks to access the reports “to serve the compelling public interest in learning the extent to which Sheldon Adelson,” the billionaire chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, “has used money acquired through criminal activity in Macau casinos to make campaign contributions to candidates for public office.”
Adelson is behind legislation that would make most forms of online gambling in the US illegal.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
