Marina Bay Sands Embroiled in $6.6 Million Lawsuit
A Chinese gambler is suing Marina Bay Sands Pte, operator of one of Singapore’s two casinos, seeking to recover S$9.1 million ($6.6 million) he claims the casino transferred to other patrons without receiving his explicit authorization.
Wang Xi said in his lawsuit, which he filed on September 26 in the High Court of Singapore, that he discovered this past July that a significant amount of money was missing from his casino deposit accounts.
The money was allegedly moved to other players’ accounts in 22 transactions that took place between October and December, 2015. Mr. Wang told court that he did not know the people who received his money.
His lawsuit further claims that he was told by Marina Bay Sands that the casino had received letters signed by him in Macau that authorized the disputed transfers. Mr. Wang said that his signature had been copied and pasted on the authorization letters by someone else and that he had not authorized the transfers.
Marina Bay Sands, owned and operated by a subsidiary of Las Vegas casino giant Las Vegas Sands, is one of Singapore’s two casino resorts, the other being Genting Group’s Resorts World Sentosa. Earlier this year, the government of Singapore agreed to extend both resorts’ exclusivity over casino gambling through 2030 in exchange for pledges by their owners to invest at least S$9 billion in projects that would boost international visits to Singapore. Both Sands and Genting were quick to announce major expansion projects at their properties, each worth more than S$4.5 billion.
Marina Bay Sands revealed plans to add a fourth hotel tower located near the resort’s three existing ones. The new building will feature 1,000 hotel suites and its own sky roof, very similar to the iconic ship-shaped rooftop of the main resort.
Marina Bay Sands Fails to Produce the Authorization Letters
Marina Bay Sands told Mr. Wang that it was unable to show him the originals of the authorization letters as those had been destroyed by Sands’ Macau affiliate over confidentiality reasons, according to the lawsuit.
It read further that the casino operator “failed to verify whether the Disputed Authorization Letters were in fact signed by the plaintiff before effecting the disputed transactions.”
Marina Bay Sands is yet to comment on the lawsuit.
Casino News Daily reported earlier this year that Marina Bay Sands dropped a five-year lawsuit against an Australian high roller player who had failed to pay his gambling debt to the property. The resort sought recovery worth just under S$10 million plus interest of S$3.8 million and costs of S$7,398 from Australian VIP gambler Wang Zhi Cai.
According to court filings, Mr. Wang had amassed his debt between April 2013 and January 2014. In June, Marina Bay Sands filed a notice of discontinuance with the High Court of Singapore, saying that it had resolved the matter amicably and that it had invited Mr. Wang back to its casino floor as “a valued patron.” Details about the settlement remained confidential.
