Casino operator Wynn Macau and junket Dore Entertainment could still be liable for HK$17 million stolen by a Dore employee in 2015 after Macau’s Court of Second Instance voided a previous ruling against a man claiming he had deposited money into Dore’s VIP room at Wynn.
The man was one of three who had been seeking a combined HK$58 million they said was deposited using money and gaming chips but had their cases dismissed when they were unable to provide proof of their deposits.
One of those men subsequently launched an appeal based on an assertion by both Wynn and Dore during their defence that the VIP room’s cage manager was not authorized to provide loans or accept money from customers.
The man had argued to the judge in the original court case that the HK$17 million he provided was not a loan but a deposit because it was part of a deposit contract – an argument the judge had accepted before ruling that he had still failed to provide evidence of actually making the deposit.
On Tuesday the Court of Second Instance annulled that decision, stating the case should be fully reviewed taking into account the revised definition of the money as a deposit rather than a loan.
“Although the loans were not proven, it was essential to know whether the deposit contract mentioned by the [complainant] existed and whether such agreement included a clause for the repayment of the sum, facts that were ignored in the decision,” Tuesday’s ruling said.
It has never been confirmed exactly how much was stolen by the employee, with Dore stating only that it was somewhere between HK$20 million and HK$200 million.
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