Osaka-based junket NINE & PICTURES is looking to launch criminal charges against its former president for gambling away JPY150 million (US$1.4 million) of the company’s money at a Macau casino.
According to a report in the Mainichi Shimbun, the man in question – who also founded the junket in 2007 – filed for bankruptcy with the Osaka District Court in September 2019 after being unable to repay the money he owed.
It is alleged that, between July and September 2014, NINE & PICTURES was provided with JPY350 million (US$3.3 million) from a man in Osaka city as a representative of the company and its Macau subsidiary in order to expand the business.
Of this amount, JPY150 million was deposited as security at a Macau casino through a local corporation in November 2014. However, it is alleged that the former president had gambled almost all of this money away on baccarat by January 2016.
In September 2019 the former president was unable to return the loan and retired after filing a petition with the Osaka District Court for personal bankruptcy along with a pachinko machine sales company that he operated separately. The overseas subsidiary has also been shut down. The bankruptcy process indicates a total of JPY500 million (US$4.8 million) in personal debt obligations.
In 2017 NINE & PICTURES HD was established in Osaka city for the purpose of managing and operating NINE & PICTURES, its overseas entities, a travel company and other related companies in the junket and travel fields. The company is said to hold licenses in Macau, Nevada, the Philippines and Queensland, Australia, and has agreements with more than 20 casinos globally.
The Japanese government has previously stated that junkets will not be permitted to operate within the country’s own casinos.
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