Regulators in the US state of Massachusetts are investigating Macau and Hong Kong businesswoman Pansy Ho and her relationship to MGM Resorts International.
The probe is part of the state Gaming Commission’s review of the four companies vying for two commercial casino licenses. Everyone with significant ties to the applicants—MGM, listed US operator Penn National Gaming and two companies with ties to Native American casinos, Mohegan Sun and Hard Rock—will be under scrutiny, says Stephen Crosby, chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
Ms Ho’s name was bound to figure prominently in the process because of allegations that have surrounded her father, Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho, of ties to Asian organized crime. Though Mr Ho has never been charged with anything, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in 2010 found his daughter unsuitable as MGM’s business partner, a finding that led MGM to exit the Atlantic City market.
MGM is now seeking to re-enter Atlantic City, where it holds a 50% stake in the Borgata casino hotel, and New Jersey regulators have indicated they will reconsider the 2010 ruling in light of Ms Ho’s diminished share in MGM’s Macau casino operating company.
However, Ms Ho will likely come under investigation again in connection with MGM’s bids for casinos in the US state of Maryland and in Toronto, Canada.
Massachusetts is expected to award the two licenses early next year and a third slots-only license next autumn. A third full casino license is earmarked for a Massachusetts Indian tribe.
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