Star gambled on high rollers in Brisbane, now it’s losing its shirt to its Chinese partners

The cashcards — in line with a crackdown from Beijing on overseas gambling — were not meant to fund casino splurges. A guest with a China Union Pay cashcard made an unusually large withdrawal via EFTPOS at the casino hotel. In addition, there was also a poker room offering Texas hold’em poker and Omaha cash games along with regular poker tournaments. There were also function rooms, ranging from early 19th century decor to modern business meeting rooms.
Mortimer said the «challenges» around filling «vacant space» in the CBD highlights the need for stakeholders to form a strategic plan for the area. Dining precinct Eagle St, which is undergoing a facelift, and Howard Smith Wharves, plus Queen’s Wharf, will amply cater the CBD masses for food and drinks. But Gary Mortimer, a consumer behaviour and retail expert, said central Brisbane was already oversaturated with similar spots. It has been speculated that the site could be turned into a new retail and dining zone. «The process from here is, we go through a decamp process,» Star’s boss of Brisbane operations, Daniel Finch, said.
It distanced itself from the Hoiana casino the next year, but maintained a hidden involvement it repeatedly and falsely denied. The Cheng family patriarch, Cheng Yu Tung, was marred by a long association with a Macau casino boss linked to organised crime. The investigation report, released last month by the Crisafulli government, shows the original probity checks raised red flags. It got even messier when the ABC exposed its hidden ties to Chau seven years later, sparking a government investigation. Behind the scenes, Chow Tai Fook’s path to winning government approval was a lot messier than that. Had that happened, Suncity would «likely have had a significant involvement in the introduction of international VIP players» to Brisbane, according to the OLGR.
Cheng said he killed the original deal to buy Suncity because «I don’t like the junket business or Mr Chau». He blamed a «misunderstanding» with Chow Tai Fook management for having a stake in the casino with Chau in the first place. Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd, the world’s largest jewellery retailer, fell on its trading debut safe blackjack in brisbane Hong Kong on Thursday after raising $2.02 billion in its initial public offering. A senior Chow Tai Fook executive did that for them, and was able to arrange funding without their involvement. When he died in 2018, Chow Tai Fook bought back his stake and sold it to one of its finance managers. One of the men, a billion-dollar Chow Tai Fook shareholder and co-founder of its jewellery business, was loaned the money on a «handshake» and charged no interest. Concerned about Chow Tai Fook’s reluctance to hand over material, the regulator issued another formal demand for information, warning it was an offence not to comply.
The business partnership which saved Donald Trump’s career was forged in a failed Australian casino bid. It’s also agreed to a $300 million rescue package with US casino giant Bally’s, which would take a majority stake in Star. Organised crime figure Alvin Chau, pictured in 2018, was the billionaire founder of VIP gambling promotion group Suncity. Its Chinese partners in the $3.8 billion Queen’s Wharf venture would earn fees for referring VIP gamblers to the casino — and develop high-rises around it. «NAB’s exact comment was, ‘That makes for a very expensive hotel room,'» a cashier manager told casino executives in an email. Star had recorded the transaction as a «hotel» expense and its bank was asking questions.
The casino and hotel occupied two heritage-listed buildings, the Treasury Building, and the nearby Lands Administration Building respectively. As Brisbane prepares to say goodbye to the Treasury Casino, poor gambling addicts have been warned they will have to go three whole days before the casino part of the precinct opens – which to many, is bloody unAustralian. He said Queen St Mall shopping precinct Uptown, which is the rebranded Myer Centre after the department store vacated the building, was a «ghost town», while the nearby Wintergarden was «also relatively empty». «And we’ll work with the government to preserve this beautiful heritage-listed building. Work to remove poker machines and other items began in earnest on Monday at the Treasury, where a 125-room luxury hotel will remain open, despite no new tenant yet taking up the vacated casino space. The Treasury Casino has closed — and the question as to what will replace the Brisbane icon inside the heritage-protected CBD building has one leading retail expert «stumped». ‘We’ll work with the government to preserve this beautiful heritage-listed building.’
But like at Hoiana, where Chow Tai Fook took a controlling stake with Chau out of the picture, the real money spinner in Brisbane could be the development around the casino. It substantiated the ABC’s revelation that Chow Tai Fook had a «concealed interest with a person not of good repute, Mr Alvin Chau, through an ongoing interest in the Vietnam project». «Junket business normally would have complications in the background… this could involve illegal activities, association with triads or even being triad members themselves,» he said.
Chow Tai Fook denied having any «agreements, directorships or business relationships» with the Vietnam casino. Minutes of an April 2016 meeting show Chow Tai Fook decided it should be «replaced» with an «affiliate» in the venture «for all future media promotions». First phase of the resort project by Suncity is under construction near the beach coastline of Hoiana, Vietnam March 26, 2018.
But legal advice to the government found «insufficient evidence» that Chow Tai Fook deliberately misled the regulator — or knew that Chau was of ill-repute before his arrest. A Queensland government report that upholds the ABC’s revelation that a Brisbane casino owner had a «concealed relationship» with a criminal junket boss. The government investigation found that Chow Tai Fook had given the regulator «incorrect, incomplete and/or inconsistent information». In his interview with the regulator in November 2023, Chow Tai Fook chairman Henry Cheng denied the conglomerate was «financing the Vietnam project» — rather it had given personal loans to friends. A source close to the project gave the ABC a detailed account of Chow Tai Fook’s involvement. Queensland regulators believed Hong Kong tycoon Cheng Yu Tung, pictured here in 2011, was too elderly to have any influence on his family’s involvement in the Brisbane casino. He was barred from any involvement in the Brisbane venture — and died the following year.