Crown staff to be released in coming months after guilty pleas

The 14 Crown employees and two former staff members detained in China have plead guilty to promoting gambling offences.

After spending over seven months in a Shanghai detention centre, the employees of Crown Resorts were sentenced to nine to 10 months in jail, including time spent behind bars.

The group learned they would be facing charges based on promotion of gambling offences two weeks ago.

The trial took take place on Monday, June 26 and no live broadcast was streamed from the Baoshan District Court.

Four Australians, including Crown Resorts vice-president of VIP Operations, Jason O’Connor, Jerry Xuan, Jenny Pan Dan, and an unidentified former employee, were among the group of 19 (three junior employees were released but were required to attend the trial) who faced the panel of judges.

Reports have emerged O’Connor was sentenced to 10 months in jail, including time served, while Xuan and Pan Dan were sentenced to nine months, including time served.

The men will be sent to Shanghai’s Qingpu prison, with one visit from family per month, while the women, including Pan Dan, will be sent to a women’s prison.

Three days were set aside for the trial to run its course, but it was over within 24 hours.

Reports allege many judges in China do not even have legal degrees, but the trial’s main judge, Zhang Kai, does. It is not clear if the two others do.

The guilty pleas go against the initial claims the Crown staff were promoting its resorts, instead of casino services available in the VIP rooms, such as the Mahogany Room.

While possible sentences of up to 10 years in jail were on the table, media outlets reported the group would likely face up to three years.

China has recently increased its live broadcasting of court cases via social media but the Crown Resorts court case was spared from public scrutiny.

The case has been handled by the group’s lawyer, Liu Haitao, who is a top Chinese lawyer from King & Wood Mallesons. He managed to avoid prison time for GlaxoSmithKline executives in a 2014 bribery case involving the British pharmaceutical company.

Loved ones travelling to China have not seen the offenders since they were arrested – no private time is reportedly permitted, though

In October, the group sent to target high roller Chinese nationals – who reside in mainland China where casino gambling is highly illegal – had their accommodation raided.

Communication devices were seized, and the group working to bring VIP players back to the James Packer-backed Australian venues were arrested. Three junior staff were then released.

Many industry experts have used a similar case in 2015 as precedent. It involved 13 South Korean casino staff who faced similar charges after they were found targeting mainland Chinese citizens. They were released in 2016 after serving 16 to 18 months behind bars.

The case served as a warning that mainland China is serious about banning gambling marketing and ensuring its citizens are not targeted. It also showed the government’s dedication to cease the outflow of money.

Shanghai-based criminal lawyer, Si Weijiang, commented on the trial before it took place telling News Corp that while the “defendants will be convicted — 99 percent of the cases are convicted” – he believed the sentence handed down would be less than three years.

Another Shanghai lawyer, Jin Chunyu, backed Weijiang’s comments.

“The usual legal punishment of this crime is no more than three years in prison and a fine if the crime isn’t ‘serious’, and if it is, then above three years and no more than 10 years with a fine,” he said.

He alluded that Crown may have paid large sums “in exchange for the more serious charge of money laundering not being laid” and this was why the sentences were expected to be under three years.

Despite a lack of comment from Crown representatives, and Packer himself, the company is reportedly providing as much support as possible.

A spokeswoman for Crown Resorts said no comments would be made on Monday, but a statement may be released later this week.