Australia’s Star Entertainment Group is suing a Singaporean businessman in the Singapore High Court for AU$43.2 million in unpaid gambling debts in what is believed to be the largest casino debt case the Southeast Asian nation has seen.
As reported by local news outlet The New Paper, Star Entertainment is pursuing 55-year-old Wong Yew Choy for money he lost on the VIP tables at The Star Gold Coast last year.
While the loss itself isn’t in dispute, Wong alleges that a senior casino executive promised he would not be liable for his losses up until 29 July 2018 due to mistakes made by a baccarat dealer, nor would he be liable for any future losses if further mistakes were made. When another mistake was made on 1 August, Wong immediately stopped playing, his representatives claim.
Also in dispute is the nature of The Star Gold Coast’s loan to Wong. According to Star Entertainment Group, Wong requested and was given a cheque cashing facility for AU$40 million, which was later increased by another AU$10 million.
Wong says he did not make any such request and was instead offered the AU$40 million credit directly.
Wong gave Star Entertainment Group a blank cheque on arrival which the company later filled out, only to find that Wong had cancelled the cheque upon his return to Singapore.
“Dr Wong will contest the Singapore case as a matter of principle and intends to fully vindicate his decision to stop payment,” his lawyer, Abraham Vergis, is quoted as saying.
The case comes less than three months after Wynn Macau won a landmark cross-jurisdictional case in Malaysia to recoup a HK$33 million debt from a Malaysia fund manager.
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