Macau’s Court of First Instance has ordered the former operators of Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel and its casino Greek Mythology, as well as four members of the board, to pay fines totaling MOP$4.43 million and compensation of more than MOP$20 million for violating labor laws.
In an announcement, the court said that the guilty parties must pay all outstanding salaries, compensation for holidays, overtime, annual leave and severance pay owing to 614 workers following the closure of the hotel and casino in July 2016.
Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel, now known as New Century Hotel, was run by Macau Hotel Developers Ltd while Entertainment Group Corporation Ltd, which ran Greek Mythology, is the other company involved. The four administrators must pay MOP$2.48 million of the fines personally.
The ruling follows a series of 24 trials in relation to the case between March 2016 and October 2017.
Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel was ordered to close by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) in 2016 due to what MGTO director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes described at the time as “serious administrative irregularities which constitute threats to public safety.”
They included “serious fire safety issues including an inadequate number of fire extinguishers, defective emergency lightning system, blocked exits, obstructed escape routes, malfunctioning smoke chamber, use of decorative materials without fireproofing and storage of fuels beyond legal limits, amongst others.”
The hotel’s license was subsequently revoked in January 2017.
Asian casino investor Amax International Holdings Ltd, which holds a 24.8% stake in Greek Mythology casino, has been looking to reopen casino operations but stated recently that it “has been trying but failed to contact the management of Greek Mythology to understand the current situation of Greek Mythology which led to uncertainty on the development of Greek Mythology.”
