Macau appeals court grants retrial of Dore junket case

Thursday 18th of July 2019

Macau’s Court of Second Instance has overturned an earlier ruling in favor of junket operator Dore Entertainment and casino operator Wynn Macau, local media reports.

In September 2015, a former cage manager working for Dore Entertainment allegedly stole more than HK$100 million, using her position in a VIP room in Wynn Macau to illegally pool deposit capital.

At the time, four people had pressed charges against the junket and Wynn demanding the repayment of some $64 million deposited, either in the VIP room or in gaming chips.

The court ruled that three of the players had failed to prove they had deposited funds, while the fourth provided a receipt.

The fourth player lost the court case, however, with the Court of First Instance (TJB) ruling that neither Dore nor Wynn would have to repay HK$17 million, as the money he was said to have deposited could not be considered a loan.

While the player argued that the money he invested in Dore was not classified as a loan, but instead as a deposit, in the end, this was dismissed by the judges.

However, judges of the Court of Second Instance have now decided to overturn the original ruling and grant a retrial, as the initial judge failed to consider the changed claim.

In light of such acknowledgment, the TSI decided that such facts “should be reviewed,” taking into account the “uniformization, harmony, coherence and logic of the sentence,” said the judges in their ruling.