China nabs 10 junket agents in Crown Resorts probe: report

China nabs 10 junket agents in Crown Resorts probe: report

More people are being asked to “take tea” with Chinese authorities as Beijing widens its crackdown on James Packers’ Crown Resorts.

China nabs 10 junket agents in Crown Resorts probe: reportThis time, 10 Chinese “organizers of junkets licensed by the casino operator to bring high rollers to its Australian properties” are reportedly taken into Chinese authorities’ custody, according to The Australian.

These people were originally from a group of 87 Crown customers who were initially invited by Chinese police to “take tea,” meaning present themselves to authorities for questioning, following the lightning raids that resulted in the detention of 18 Crown Resorts employees. The 10 people currently remain in custody, according to the news outlet.

Last week, Chinese authorities detained Crown staffers, including three Australian nationals, who were based in china as part of the casino operator’s local sales and marketing team. Chinese law prohibits advertising gambling services on the mainland but casino operators are permitted to promote their resorts’ non-gaming tourism offerings.

However, reports surfaced that Chinese authorities warned Crown Resorts a year ago against attracting high rollers to gamble overseas, but the casino operator chose to look the other way. According to reports, Chinese authorities observed Crown’s senior executives make short business trips to China instead of spending long periods in the country. There was also an alleged attempt on the part of Crown to circumvent the Chinese rules by simply packaging the tour activities as resort instead of casinos.

Chinese authorities had been tracking the Crown team for the past year, a source familiar with the matter told the Australian news outlet.

The Crown staffers, who are reportedly “in good health,” have yet to be charged in court.

Meanwhile, The Australian also reported that Crown customers are “furious” to see that the casino operator’s client database reportedly in the hands of Chinese authorities, who had seized the employees’ computers and smartphones during the arrests.