The man who kick-started Crown Resorts’ fateful VIP push into mainland China has become the latest casualty of the company’s expansive purge.
According to The Australian Financial Review, Michael Chen – who encouraged Crown to deal directly with Chinese high rollers rather than rely on junkets – has become the latest to depart, joining Crown Chairman Robert Rankin and CEO Rowen Craigie on the scrapheap following the arrests of 15 Crown staff for alleged “gambling related crimes.”
A number of sources from the Asian Gaming industry, contacted directly by IAG, have questioned why Mr Chen himself was not in China at the time of the raids. He has previously been reported as being on “permanent leave” after five years as Crown’s President of International Marketing.
As told to The Australian Financial Review, Mr Chen “was the guy more than anyone who drove those in China for targets and pushed them to collect.”
He also reported directly to Jason O’Connor, Crown’s VIP boss who was one of the 15 Crown Resorts staff detained and remains in custody today.
Asked about the progress of the case against those detained, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said this week that, “China’s legal and judicial processes can be lengthy.”
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