Hong Kong Businessmen Receives Court Award

The Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the casino resort group that is based in the United States which owns the spectacular Venetian venues that are located both in Las Vegas and Macau, has experienced this week, a legal defeat, when a $43.8 million claim brought by a Hong Kong businessman was won. The claim involved services rendered in assisting the facilitation of the Sand's move into Macau.

There have been two resorts opened on the island by the Las Vegas Sands, the Venetian Macao on the Cotai Strip and the Sands Macao.

The Hong Kong businessmen, Richard Suen (55), had originally claimed that he was owed as much as US$100 million for making use of his father's Chinese government contacts to assist the Las Vegas-based Sands Corporation, which is the property of resort king Sheldon Adelson, attain a very profitable gambling license in Macau. At one time, Suen was Adelson's secretary.

The Las Vegas Sands hired Suen and his Round Square Company, to help the American colossus make headway into the Macau gambling and resort market. Suen claims that he was successful in carrying this out. The civil claim was filed by Suen in 2004, and it included a $5 million upfront fee along with 2 percent of net casino profits to be received if Suen was successful in helping Sands to acquire the license.

The Las Vegas Sands lawyers fought the case, arguing that Suen's 2000 and 2001 efforts were not successful, and that they then hired the Galaxy Entertainment group in 2002 to achieve the same purpose. Following this, the companies, which had by then received a license, were not able to agree on the contractual arrangements, leading to the dissolution of the partnership. At this point Macau granted Las Vegas Sands a sub-concession, which the Suen lawyers argue was the result of Suen's client's earlier lobbying.

According to Suen's testimony, meetings that he arranged in July of 2001, in Beijing, between Las Vegas Sands executives and Chinese government officials, were the reason for the casino operator being granted its licensing request.

It is reported that during the court hearing, Adelson offered conflicting testimony. He first told jurors that the company's president and chief operating officer, William Weidner, had written to Suen seeking his assistance for doing business in Macau. He followed this later by saying that Suen had never been hired by the company.

According to the Las Vegas Sands lawyer, Rusty Hardin, the Las Vegas Company will be appealing the decision.

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