Sheldon Adelson is off the hook, at least in the eyes of a U.S. watchdog.
Nonprofit Campaign for Accountability previously asked the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Federal Election Commission to investigate the 82-year-old billionaire on claims that he may have “possibly promoted prostitution” at his Las Vegas Sands empire, which also has operations in Singapore, Macau, and the United States.
Now, the group, which claims to use “research, litigation and aggressive communications to expose misconduct,” is taking back its accusations.
“The allegations relied upon in making the requests are false and we apologize for any inconvenience or embarrassment suffered by Mr. Adelson and his family as a result of our statements and actions,” CfA said in a statement.
The watchdog group requested the U.S. Senate on Nov. 3 to check on Adelson’s ties to Chinese crime groups. Specifically, the CfA wants to know if Adelson’s Republican campaign contributions came from “illegally laundered foreign funds.”
At the time, CfA Executive Director Anne Weissmann said the Americans have a right to know if “triad money is winding up in the campaign coffers” through Adelson.
The group singled out Adelson’s business connections to Cheung Chi Tai, who a U.S. Senate committee has identified in the past as a leader of a Hong Kong triad group. Cheung, said to be a prime figure in the Neptune Group, is facing charges of money laundering in Hong Kong.
The CfA also wanted to know the connection between Adelson and Ng Lap Seng, a Chinese billionaire who was caught in September smuggling $4.5 million into the United States. Authorities believed Ng had already funneled money to the Democratic National Committee back in the 1990s.
Aside from being one of the world’s wealthiest people, Adelson is also known for his hefty campaign contributions. In 2012, he contributed an estimated $100 million to Republican candidates and was even named by the Center for Responsive Politics as the number one corporate donor to political parties, particularly the GOP.
