The Queensland state government has deemed there to be insufficient evidence to find Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) – the Hong Kong-listed jewelry giant with casino links in Australia, Macau, Vietnam and the Bahamas – unsuitable to be associated with Star Entertainment Group’s soon-to-open Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development.
The finding comes after the state’s former Attorney-General directed in September 2022 the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) to investigate the company’s suitability following media reports citing its links to Asian-based junkets, including Suncity group and its now incarcerated CEO, Alvin Chau.
CTFE holds a 4.99% stake in Star Entertainment Group and a 25% stake in the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development but is also part of a three-way consortium that owns Vietnam’s Hoiana and in 2016 took control of the controversial Baha Mar integrated resort in the Bahamas.
CTFE Chairman Henry Cheng famously holds a 10% stake in STDM, the company founded by Macau gaming icon Stanley Ho and parent company of Macau concessionaire SJM Holdings.
According to details released by the office of Queensland’s Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath on Thursday, the investigation into CTFE took place over 16 months through February 2024 and was conducted by OLGR with the assistance of an external private firm specializing in financial investigations. It involved “considerable investigative work” including the conduct of interviews with CTFE senior management, formal and informal interviews with other people including overseas sources, information gathering from CTFE and preparation of a detailed investigation report. The investigation also drew on an earlier suitability investigation completed by OLGR in 2015, the Attorney-General’s office said.
“The Attorney-General’s ultimate decision is that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that CTFE or its relevant associates are unsuitable,” it explained.
“In some respects, the allegations were not supported by material that showed them to be true. In other respects, there was not an appropriate basis to find unsuitability.”
The Attorney-General’s office also explained that the external private firm hired to assist had reviewed the sufficiency of the original suitability investigation conducted by OLGR in 2015, forming the view that the investigation was “conducted with diligence, due care and appropriate scope and that the findings of that investigation were reasonable and consistent with the evidence gathered by the investigation team.”
Star Entertainment Group, which will launch Queen’s Wharf and The Star Brisbane casino in August, continues to face its own suitability issues with a report due at the end of this month on the findings of a recent inquiry into The Star Sydney.
Star shares have hit their lowest levels in recent weeks at around AU$0.40 per share, down from high of more than AU$5.00 at their 2018 peak.
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