The casino company run by the principal financial backer of Newt Gingrich's presidential bid, Sheldon Adelson, has been under criminal investigation for the last year by the Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission for alleged bribery of foreign officials, according to corporate documents.
In a separate civil lawsuit, a former executive of the company has
alleged that Adelson ordered him to keep quiet about sensitive issues at
the Sands casinos on the Chinese island of Macau, including the
casinos' alleged "involvement with Chinese organized crime groups, known
as Triads, connected to the junket business." The triads -- Chinese
organized crime syndicates -- are allegedly involved in organizing high
stakes gambling junkets for wealthy Chinese travelers.
In its filings with the SEC, Adelson's company says it became aware of
the investigation in February 2011 when it received a subpoena from the
SEC requesting "documents relating to its compliance with the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act." The company said it "intends to cooperate with
the investigation," which it said may have been triggered by the
allegations in the lawsuit by Steven C. Jacobs, a former Sands executive
who says he helped run the Macau operation. The federal investigation
was first reported last year by Las Vegas newspapers and the financial
press.
At a gaming forum last year, Adelson said the lawsuit "is not a serious
case" and that the federal investigations would find no wrongdoing.
"When the smoke clears, I am 1,000 percent positive that there won't be
any fire below it."
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