PAGE 8 MONDAY, november 7, 2016
Email: insight@tribunemedia.net
Would the Cheng family really IN THE be good for the Bahamas? THIS WEEK
TRIBUNE Today Insight - why the Chinese are so anxious to get their hands on Andros Business - a frustrated purchaser has accused Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) of repeatedly stalling the $7m sale of its largest remaining asset. Sports - Brent Stubbs reports on the Bahamas national softball championships Plus the latest properties for sale and rent in the Home Buyers’ Guide
Tuesday Woman and Health weekly advice on taking care of your mind and body and women making waves in the Bahamas Plus comment from Nicole Burrows and sporting mischief and mayhem with Inigo “Naughty” Zenicazelaya
Wednesday Tribune Tech - a weekly look at what’s new in the world of technology Plus Larry Smith’s forthright Tough Call column
Thursday Obituaries and Religion, a weekly review Young Man’s View trenchant opinion from Adrian Gibson on the hot topics in the country ‘On da Hook’, a weekly look at fishing in the Bahamas
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fter weeks of public questioning of opaque and confusing statements about Baha Mar by Prime Minister Christie and his government, a strange press release was issued by the Chinese company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, of which the Cheng family of Hong Kong is the major shareholder. Late on a Thursday, nearly a year-to-the-day after the China ExportImport Bank (CEXIM) installed receivers to oversee the Cable Beach mega resort and an eventual sale, Chow Tai Fook felt it was important to inform all of us that it is negotiating with the rather mysterious Perfect Luck Assets Ltd, the CEXIM entity, to possibly buy the Baha Mar property. But who is the Cheng family? When the family patriarch Cheng Yu Tung died in September, his obituaries touted his status as the third wealthiest tycoon in Hong Kong. Yet what went unmentioned in these obituaries is the hardknuckled business that made Mr Cheng’s fortune, and the thugs that maintained order in his casinos, nor the politicians that protected his empire. One does not have to go further than public records to find at least 15 documented criminal connections to Mr Cheng’s businesses. Interestingly, Mr Cheng’s partnership with Stanley Ho in the gaming company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) would almost certainly disqualify him from casino licensure in the United States. His situation would not be dissimilar to when, in 2010, a US gambling regulator found Mr Ho’s daughter, Pansy, to be an unsuitable partner for a joint venture with MGM Resorts based on her father’s relationship to organised crime. Regulators around the world, including Australia, Canada and the Philippines, have rejected Mr Ho as “unsuitable” to a hold a gambling licence. Ho and Cheng, according to public commentary, have given free rein to China’s criminal groups, known as Triads, to run their casinos in Macau. In case you haven’t heard of the Triads, their group, numbering in the tens of thousands, have been linked to transnational crimes including drug smuggling, human trafficking and money laundering. In 2013, a major regulator from the US, testifying on Macau, said that it “is common knowledge, the operation of VIP Rooms in Macau casinos had long been dominated by Asian organised crime, commonly referred to as ‘Triads’.”
Malcolm J Strachan reveals a dark side to Baha Mar’s prospective buyers and a dangerous gamble on the resort’s future
Family patriarch Cheng Yu Tung ran businesses linked to organised crime and given free rein to Triad gangs. The criminals, often convicted of violence or human trafficking, that did business with Ho’s and Cheng’s casino company can all be found in the public record: • Wan Kuok Koi (aka, Broken Tooth Koi) - Head of the 14K Triad gang in Macau, Wan was arrested in 1998 in Macau in the wake of a Triad war that led to more than 42 killings over a period of three years. Wan was convicted of Triad-related violent crimes and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Court records show that Wan operated VIP gambling clubs in STDM casinos during the 1990s. Following his release from jail, Chineselanguage news outlets reported (with pictures) that Wan had re-established a VIP gambling operation at the Hotel L’Arc, developed and owned for many years by Mr Cheng. • Ng Man Sun – US Securities and Exchange Commission filings from 1996 disclosed that Ngcontrolled enterprises had a casino profit-sharing arrangement with STDM. Currently, Ng claims interest in the Greek Mythology casino under SJM’s casino licence. Ng has been identified in Congressional documents and several Englishlanguage news outlets as a Triad leader. • Lai Tong Sang - Identified by Canadian law enforcement as a leader of the Macau Wo On Lok Triad in Macau, Lai was deported from Canada in 2013. Mr Lai was also implicated by Canadian authorities as being involved in the 1990sera Macau street wars over control over VIP rooms at STDM. More recently, Lai’s children operate a VIP gambling company
Gray’s Chinese proposal smells fishy From pg7 apparent belief that we have an unlimited supply of fish in our waters. Our fishing industry is at a critical level at this stage, and it would
seem that in this government’s quest to appease its greatest investor, it will sell out the Bahamian people. Is the government intending to replace the Domini-
registered out of an SJM property. • Charles Heung Several members of the Heung family, including Charles Heung Wah Keung and Heung Wah Yim, were identified in a 1992 US Senate Subcommittee report as leaders of the Sun Yee On Triad in Hong Kong. Currently, a Charles Heung-controlled firm owns the Hotel Lan Kwai Fong casino, which has a gambling profit-sharing agreement with SJM. • Lau Wing Keung - Government reports, supplemented by extensive mainstream news reporting, reveals that Mr Lau was a top Triad leader, better known by the name “Lau Wing Kui”. A 1992 US Senate Subcommittee report disclosed that Lau at the time worked for STDM in Macau. • Albert Yeung Sau Shing - A twice-convicted felon in Hong Kong, once for attempting to “pervert the course of public justice”
and once for “illegal bookmaking”, Albert Yeung in 2009 was also identified by New Jersey gambling regulators as an alleged senior office bearer of the Sun Yee On Triad. Yeung today has a controlling interest in the Emperor Hotel, which has a gambling profit-sharing agreement with SJM. • Sonny Yeung Hoi Sing - The brother of Albert Yeung, Sonny Yeung was also named in a 2009 report by a New Jersey gambling regulator as a “reputed member of a Triad.” Sonny Yeung is named in 2015 Annual Report of SJM Holdings as a director of a company subsidiary. He has a hotel-casino joint venture with SJM. • Ng Lap Seng - In a 1996 US Senate report, Ng was identified as having collaborated in a scheme to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign funds to the Democratic National Committee. A year later the New York Times wrote that Ng was “tied to organised crime” in Macau. In 2015, Ng was arrested in the US for allegedly bribing a United Ntions official. Ng also has had a longstanding ownership interest in the Fortuna hotel-casino in Macau, which operates under SJM’s gambling licence. • Cheung Chi Tai - Identified as a leader of the Wo Hop To Triad in a 1992 US Senate Subcommittee report, Cheung was arrested in 2015 on money laundering charges. Hong Kong court filings, backed up by Macau corporate records, show that Cheung was an owner of the “Neptune” VIP-junket operation that started at SJM’s casino in 2004. • Chan Meng Kam - A
can poachers with the surrogates of the Chinese? By their reference to seafood, one would assume that this will not only involve fish, but also Crawfish, conch and perhaps the few remaining sea cucumbers. The crawfishing industry has had its ups and downs over the last 20 years but continues to be seriously challenged by the Dominican poachers. The Grouper aggregates have, in recent years, been reduced substantially, and unless this is monitored more closely, we stand to lose the most popular Bahamian fish. The conch beds continue to be depleted while government fiddles and continues to allow the export of half a million pounds of conch each and every year. In addition, the Minister fails to properly police the sale of conch so as to prevent the continued killing of juvenile conch. The Minister continues to receive surveys concerning the conch population which demonstrate the critical level which has been reached in many areas, but fails to act upon it. Let the Government be reminded, for perhaps the 100th time,
that the “removal” of conch from the Florida Cays was banned almost 30 years ago, and despite that, the conch have not returned in sufficient numbers so as to enable the authorities to lift the ban. Once they are gone, they are gone! Until relatively recently, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland were regarded as the greatest fishing grounds in the world, and with the arrival of trawlers from all over the world, the schools of fish were decimated. As a consequence the Canadian government imposed a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. In the 1990s, it was necessary for the government to close all major Cod and Flounder fisheries on the Banks altogether, and it is only recently that the Canadian government authorised a limited amount of fishing. Instead of taking heed of situations such as these, our government sits back and not only ignores the challenges faced by others, but is prepared to negotiate with the Chinese in participating with Bahamians to create a massive scheme to deplete and ultimately destroy our fragile fishing industry. Although experience has
“When the family patriarch Cheng Yu Tung died in September, what went unmentioned in his obituaries were the hardknuckled business that made Mr Cheng’s fortune, and the thugs that maintained order in his casinos, nor the politicians that protected his empire.”
2010 Secretary of State cable, made public by Wikileaks, disclosed that Chan is “thought to have major Triad connections”. Macau corporate record filings also show partnerships between Chan and convicted Triads. Chan is chairman of the Macau Golden Dragon Hotel, which includes a casino operating under SJM’s concession. Beyond his casino company STDM/SJM, it has been reported that Cheng has on multiple occasions partnered in other realms of his business dealings with associates who have criminal backgrounds or have widely reputed ties to organised crime: • A Cheng-family firm in 2015 entered into a joint venture with the Macau VIP/junket operator SunCity to develop a casino in Vietnam. SunCity is headed by Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, who has been linked in corporate documents and in mainstream reporting to reputed Triad figures. • Cheng has made substantial investments through the years with companies controlled by Albert Yeung Sau Shing. Yeung has a criminal record in Hong Kong and was named in a 2009 New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement report as the alleged leader of a Hong Kong Triad. • Cheng was partners until recently with Joseph Lau in Lifestyle International Holdings, which operates the SOGO department store in Hong Kong. Lau was convicted in Macau of bribery and money laundering. • Cheng, in 2005, became a substantial shareholder in Get Nice Holdings, a Hong Kong company financing the VIP rooms of Macau. The brother of the company’s chairman was convicted of drug trafficking and was connected in press reports to the Triads. • US officials in 2006 explicitly named Cheng’s Seng Heng Bank as a possible conduit for money laundering in support of North Korea’s nuclear programme. And Cheng was also an investor in a failed hotel venture with Donald Trump. So, the Chow Tai Fook press release is good reading about a lot of fluffy things, but what about all of Cheng’s questionable associations and activities it failed to disclose? What we do not know is whether, in fact, there will ever be a deal for Baha Mar by Chow Tai Fook. But, would the Cheng family really be good for The Bahamas?
• Comments and responses to insight@ tribunemedia.net shown that the Prime Minister is reluctant to remove any of his ministers, this latest debacle would clearly present an opportunity to demonstrate real leadership and remove the minister from the Cabinet. Failure to do so would only suggest that the government sanctions this outrageous proposal to deplete our waters instead of it being only the brainchild of the Minister or the Ambassador to China. If the scheme was not authorised by the government, it is incumbent upon the Prime Minister to say so. Do not let this fiasco replicate the embarrassment caused the government by the Minister’s interference with the judicial process in the MICAL constituency and the failure of the Attorney General’s office to prosecute the matter on the basis that there was conflicting evidence! Isn’t that always the case in matters before the court which were contested? Mr Prime Minister, please take the wheel! • Richard Lightbourn is the Free National Movement MP for Montagu