LVS admits to bribing Chinese officials

(Not sure what the board's policy is about linking to NYT articles, so here's an excerpt):

The Las Vegas Sands Corporation, an international gambling empire controlled by the billionaire Sheldon G. Adelson, has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that it likely violated a federal law against bribing foreign officials.

In its annual regulatory report published by the commission on Friday, the Sands reported that its audit committee and independent accountants had determined that “there were likely violations of the books and records and internal controls provisions” of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The disclosure comes amid an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the company’s business activities in China.

It is the company’s first public acknowledgment of possible wrongdoing. Ron Reese, a spokesman for the Sands, declined to comment further.

 

I am biting my tongue to respect the board policies but I am brimming with inappropriate and snarky things to type right now!

 

Its how business is done over there.

if they had something to hide, they would not have admitted it.

The more money they make overseas translates to cheaper goods and services to us here. If they did not make money over there we would be on the hook for their expenses.

 

The policy for all articles is to post a link and an excerpt of a couple sentences (or a summary in your own words) - to avoid copyright infringement - we don't allow full articles to be pasted. And giving an excerpt in the post is a kindness to board members so we have an idea what to expect when clicking a link

 

You're completely wrong. They have been trying to hide it and squash this investigation for years. All they're doing now is deciding to surrender on one instance being investigated and start cooperating. Also the idea that "its how business is done over there" is one of those vague statements that can apply to almost anywhere but isn't really backed up. We do a ton of business in China and I've spent a lot of time there. Bribes happen, just as they happen here, but it doesn't mean thats how business is done. We've seen countless deals fall through and US investors back away because of even a hint of any impropriety. What LVS is being investigated for and even this small instance that they're acknowledging is a big deal and is being heavily discussed in circles that do business in China.

As to your last point, that's the basic idea we all learned in macro 101 but as you get older and start dealing in this for a living it gets a lot murkier. A simple example is LVS has the biggest Asia operation of any US casino operator but still operates at the highest price points in Vegas and Pennsylvania. They were also the only operator to come up with the "brilliant" plan to do away with comps (which they later regretted) and ended up offering the worst value amongst all operators.

 

Thanks, Hoya -- here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/business/in-filing-casino-operator-admits-likely-violation-of-an-antibribery-law.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=print

 

Sheldons being probed deeply by us justice department. This is the start of the process to make certain sands employees the scapegoats, and deflect any blame from him.

 

LVS has been probing us deeply for the last few years, glad to see someone is returning the favor.

 

They've been investigating him for turning the blind eye to money laundering for a while now. One was a Fry's executive who's currently in prison for accepting illegal kickbacks.


And there's this fine individual that's involved in the whole mess too
"
Alleged Chinese-Mexican Meth Lord Is Causing A Headache For Sheldon Adelson

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/zhenli-ye-gon-causes-trouble-for-las-vegas-sands-2012-8#ixzz2MUppcmSL
"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444320704577566803521121134.html

 

Boy this thread quieted down quickly after that "Cyber-paddling". :evillaugh

Sheldon is still a tool in my book. The New Yorker posted a good article about the confession. Read it here: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2013/03/sheldon-adelson-libel-and-macau.html

 

Sheldon's an evil bastard.

 

I used to stay at the Palazzo pretty often until Sheldon decided to stop comping gamblers and focus on the conventioneers. He just overnight pulled everyone's comps and gave all his loyal customers the bird. If I recall correctly he wanted the other casino's in Vegas to follow his lead. That strategy backfired on him and they changed it back a few months later. But it left me with a very bad feeling about Sheldon and his company. His utter disdain for those of us who have shown his casino's our loyal patronage over the years was sickening to me and I vowed to never return. I havent stayed or played in there since that time even though I do get the occasional invitation from a host there. I think Sheldon is a dick and would like to see him go to jail if he was over there bribing Chinese government officials.

 

The day I see a top ten richest guy (even top 100) guy in the world gets thrown in jail for non-political reasons (like a revolution...Libya) or violent act of passion (murders wife in front of 100 witnesses) is the day I believe there's true justice in the world. LVS stock didn't even go down...it went up for the past week...

 

There is a reason Venetian/Palazzo are the only two casinos on the Strip I haven't stayed in. If Sheldon didn't try to screw Richard Suen, his Macau bribery schemes would not have blown up in his face in the first place.

I hope Sheldon doesn't file a lawsuit against us as a result of this thread.

 

I don't understand? If this topic is appropriate...then it is impossible to keep politics out - as this is a political topic.

 

I think Sonya means more in the scope of particular political leaning views, for example if we interjected that his prosecution was allegedly motivated by his political donations it could spur a downward spiral into the Demo-crips vs the Repu-bloods.

Only the Steve-O or Oscar Goodman is allowed to project politics views on this board!

 

Hud, I am with you. I really dig the property and my wife keeps bugging me to stay there.
However my convictions are firm, no foreign made ice cream treats in the Funkhouser Good Humor truck and deadbeat casino executives who pee on their customers do not deserve my business.

 

I wonder if he pulled comps here to "favor" conventions to "impress" China.
And I no longer step foot in his place either because of what he did.