Crown prepared to face Chinese Justice

Crown Resorts announced that the company hired a specialised legal team.

China.- Australian Crown Resorts company have set a “war room” legal team featuring pricey and specialised lawyers and advisers to face the allegations against the 18 arrested employees in China. As three of the members of the staff are Australian, both governments are interested in resolving the case under a transparent legal framework.

Crown Resorts announced last Friday that the company has hired Minter Ellison legal firm to represent their defense. The casino employees have been arrested a month ago due to seeming gambling crimes, involving apparent offerings to recruit wealthy VIP players in mainland China to bet in Macau, the exclusive national territory where casinos are legal.

China is highly strict with gambling laws and does not allow marketing and sales of casino activities outside Macau. The gambling hub has also experienced a two year crisis after the current government has strengthened the legislations against VIP sector. Minter Ellison was chosen to determine the potential exposure of Crown within the allegations.

However, several sources believe the lawyers would prioritise directors’ liability. “There is a view that once the families of the employees detained come to a realisation that Crown has failed massively in its duty of care, there will be conflicts of interests,” commented an anonymous source to Fairfax Media. And added, “They Crown directors and management are all obviously worried about their own personal liability. That is, paper trails that prove they knew China had warned them not to market into China.”