Story highlights
Millions reported missing by a casino junket highlight the shadowy gambling world
Macau's casino industry has been suffering an extended downturn
A Beijing-led anti-corruption campaign has deterred high rollers
(CNN) —
Macau: It’s where billions are made. And where multimillions go mysteriously missing.
In a development that wouldn’t be out of place in Hollywood heist movie “Ocean’s Eleven,” a company that operates the high stakes rooms at Wynn Macau reported earlier this month it had been the victim of a multimillion dollar scam.
The company was a junket operator, which play the middleman between casinos and their big spending gamblers.
They vet and invite high rollers to play the VIP rooms at casinos and also lend players money – allowing them to circumvent restrictions on how much cash can be brought outside mainland China.
Local police handling the investigation estimated the missing money to be at least 270 million Macau patacas (about $34 million) but declined to give further details.
Feeding the scandal, the aggrieved company, Dore Holdings, took out an advertisement in a local newspaper naming and accusing a former employee of embezzlement.
03:01 - Source: CNN
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