A court in Taiwan has ruled a man must pay back a debt incurred when he visited a casino in Macau. Known only by his surname Chen, the man signed a promissory note three years ago in exchange for HK$75million worth of chips to use at a casino business in the enclave. He lost most of the money and the operator he was in debt to came over to his native Taiwan to find Chen and present him with the note. They then took the man to court and requested seizure of his mansion to make good the debt.
Chen had already transferred the mansion into his wife’s name and argued gambling debts “are not real debts.” The judge ruled against Chen and stated gambling is legal in Macau so is the debt. That means the transfer to his wife is void and Chen will have to give the company his “real” mansion to pay off the “real” debt.
Individuals in Saipan are pushing for the Senate to include a question regarding casinos on the November 6 ballot. Former Senate president Juan Demapan is leading the calls for its inclusion and wants planning to start now due to the length of time it could take.
He told the Saipan Tribune: “It’s another option but it has to be planned carefully. We need sufficient public information about it, we need financial support for it because it takes a lot of resources.”
The country’s governor quashed the last of two bills looking at casino legislation in October when it looked as if the island could become one of a new raft of casino business locations. At least with the question on November’s ballot the government will have a better idea of what the country thinks and how much success the gaming industry may have.
