A real-estate mogul from the Chinese gambling territory of Macau
who was arrested in New York last weekend surfaced earlier in a
continuing federal bribery probe into Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas
Sands Corp., according to a document and a person familiar with the
matter.
Sands ordered staff to retain all reports on billionaire Ng Lap
Seng to comply with demands for information from federal
investigators pursuing the bribery probe, according to a 2011
company memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Ng hasn't
been accused of wrongdoing in conjunction with the probe.
Mr. Ng, whose political connections stretch from Beijing to
Washington, is currently being held on charges of lying to customs
officials about the purpose of $4.5 million in cash he brought into
the U.S. Mr. Ng was detained Saturday and no bail has been set,
according to court documents. Mr. Ng's New York lawyer, Kevin Tung,
said he believes his client is innocent.
The Sands memo about the bribery investigation also references a
proposed real-estate deal that people familiar with the matter have
said involved Mr. Ng and his associate Marshall Hao, who were both
last year served with subpoenas to testify in front of a federal
grand jury in Las Vegas.
It is unclear what the focus of the grand jury was or if it is
still active.
Messrs. Ng and Hao were involved in a series of events first
reported by the Journal in 2012 in which an outside legal adviser
to Sands told the company that "someone high ranking in Beijing"
had proposed Mr. Adelson authorize Sands to pay $300 million to get
a $1.4 billion real estate deal approved and to settle a lawsuit
that had been filed against it by Mr. Hao, according to the emails
reviewed by the Journal.
The emails were sent in 2009 to Sands' former Macau chief
executive Steve Jacobs by Macau legislator Leonel Alves, Mr. Ng's
longtime lawyer who often travels with him to Beijing, according to
people familiar with the matter.
As part of the 2009 proposal, Mr. Ng would help ensure that
Macau officials gave Sands the go-ahead on the deal, and Mr. Hao
would receive $100 million to settle his lawsuit against the
company, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Ron Reese, a spokesman for Sands, on Thursday reiterated to the
Journal that "at no time has there ever been any suggestion that
the company made any improper payments or received any improper
benefits."
Mr. Alves said in 2012 that any claims he had suggested bribing
government officials were "totally untrue." He didn't respond to
fresh requests for comment Friday.
Subpoenas reviewed by the Journal were served on both Mr. Ng and
Mr. Hao as they dined in a private room at a Chinese restaurant
near Manhattan's Waldorf Astoria, according to people familiar with
the matter. Neither appeared to testify before the grand jury in
Las Vegas on Sept. 17, 2014, as ordered, according to people
familiar with the matter. Mr. Ng said he sent word through an
intermediary that he was too busy, according to Mr. Tung, his
lawyer.
Mr. Ng continued to make frequent, quick trips to the U.S.,
often on a private jet, carrying stacks of cash and falsely
claiming to customs officials that the money was for buying art,
antiques or real estate, or for gambling at casinos in Las Vegas
and Atlantic City, according to allegations in a complaint made
public on Monday in federal court in the Southern District of New
York.
The separate bribery investigation into Sands was prompted by
allegations made in a wrongful termination suit by Mr. Jacobs, the
former executive.
Justice Department officials from New York, Las Vegas and
Washington, D.C., headquarters didn't comment on whether
prosecutors and investigators might work together on the distinct
matters involving Mr. Ng. The federal agent who served the subpoena
on Mr. Ng is the same one who investigated him in the customs case,
according to the complaint.
Sands is continuing to cooperate with the government on the
bribery probe, said company spokesman Mr. Reese on Thursday. In
March 2013, Sands said an internal review in conjunction with the
probe had found the casino operator had likely violated books and
records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act but that it
hadn't found evidence the company bribed officials.
Mr. Ng is widely known in Macau—the world's biggest gambling
center, which last year took in seven times as much gambling
revenue as the Las Vegas Strip—as a power broker in Beijing, where
he is a member of the Chinese government's top advisory body, the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
In the U.S., he is known for his alleged role in the so-called
1990s Donorgate scandal. According to a 1998 report by the U.S.
Senate's Governmental Affairs Committee, he provided hundreds of
thousands of dollars in foreign funds to an intermediary who passed
on the money to the Democratic National Committee. While others
pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws, Mr. Ng wasn't
accused of wrongdoing.
Sands still hasn't gotten approval to do its real estate deal.
Mr. Hao's Macau suit against the company—in which he alleges Sands
improperly terminated a 2001 agreement to make a joint bid for a
Macau casino license—is pending, according to his lawyer Jorge
Menezes. Mr. Reese said Sands is trying to get the case
dismissed.
Mr. Adelson has sued Wall Street Journal reporter Kate O'Keeffe
for libel. A spokeswoman for the Journal, which wasn't named in the
suit, has said the newspaper will continue to vigorously defend Ms.
O'Keeffe.
Write to Kate O'Keeffe at Kathryn.OKeeffe@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 25, 2015 15:45 ET (19:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024