Gambling debt collection case alleges women ‘shills’ for high rollers

When Las Vegas Sands Corp. asked Clark County prosecutors to press criminal charges against two Chinese women last year over $6.4 million in baccarat debts, attorneys for the pair struck back with a surprising allegation.

Xiufei Yang, 59, and Meie Sun, 52, weren’t high-stakes gamblers, their attorneys argue in court filings, saying instead that they were local housekeepers, allegedly recruited with the cooperation of Sands personnel to take out millions of dollars in credit in their names and sit near the players as they gambled with the borrowed chips.

The real gamblers then were allegedly able to play without a paper trail at The Venetian and Palazzo.

The attorneys for the women, Jeffrey Setness of the law firm Fabian VanCott and Kevin Rosenberg of Lowenstein &Weatherwax, contend Sands may have violated federal anti-money laundering rules.

Sands spokesman Ron Reese called the allegations a “smokescreen” intended to distract from the debts the women owe. The company has no “clear evidence” these women were recruited by Sands employees, he said.

The womens’ lawyers describe them as the bottom rung of a network of hosts and handlers who court wealthy gamblers from China and sometimes help them play anonymously.

Since all sides knew the debts were a sham, the attorneys argued, Sun and Yang’s markers — the IOUs players sign to get credit from casinos — should be null and void. The women were “the real victim(s) here,” the attorneys alleged, and the court should dismiss any effort to have them convicted for activities the Las Vegas Sands “initiated and to which it was completely complicit.”

Sands says that even if Yang and Sun were shills, it was beside the point: “Ultimately those people signed credit on behalf of their name and that debt should be collected,” Reese said.

In a later statement, Reese said: “If credible proof is presented that an employee or employees were complicit, we will promptly take appropriate action as required by our policies. However, even a scenario in which a company employee was involved still does not void the debt.”

Two-thirds of all table bets placed at The Venetian and Palazzo are made through borrowing from the house, according to the company’s financial filings. And gambling debt isn’t recognized as valid by Chinese courts, so it is largely unenforceable in China, said Andrew Klebanow, a casino specialist at the consulting firm Global Market Advisors.

Gamblers sometimes use shills to gain additional credit lines after bad losing streaks, or because they wish to avoid disclosing the source of funds on casino records, according to six industry veterans with experience catering to high-stakes Chinese players.

Exactly how the two women each ended up owing more than a million dollars came under question after prosecutors brought the criminal charges in separate cases last year. In Nevada, failing to pay a gambling debt is a felony criminal offense comparable to passing a bad check.

Defense attorneys allege the women, Chinese citizens living in the U.S., made their living working as housekeepers and assisting high-rolling Chinese gamblers in their visits to casinos.

Reuters could not reach the women for comment.

Their attorneys would not say how they became involved in the case or who was paying their fees. The attorneys also declined to make the women available for interviews or provide documentation to confirm their occupations and backgrounds, but said they are still in the U.S. Clark County prosecutors had dropped the charges against Sun and Yang this spring during preliminary hearings in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Prosecutors, however, say through court filings that they intend to now pursue the charges through a grand jury, rather than before a judge.

The Clark County district attorney’s office declined to comment on the cases.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.