Serious China targets US-owned Marina Bay Sands in S'pore, casino to close shop soon

Trouble Brewing At Marina Bay Sands, Hot On The Heels Of Restrictions In Macau

Summary


•Beijing was alerted to a potential misuse of the China UnionPay banking network at Marina Bay Sands.

•Las Vegas Sands admitted to the existence of the "resort entertainment" voucher program in question.

•The latest debacle comes hot on the heels of a revenue miss in Macau.

•The operating landscape has improved considerably but it is likely already reflected in the 58% price appreciation from the 52W low. Going forward, caution is advised.


The South China Morning Post, a newspaper owned by Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), reported that the "resort entertainment" voucher scheme at Marina Bay Sands, a Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE:LVS) property in Singapore, is apparently being run in violation of China's strict outbound currency control laws. After being informed of the program by the newspaper, Xie Zhong, the director of the payment settlement department at the central bank in Beijing, responded that the bank cards of China UnionPay "should certainly not be used in casinos."

While the report by The South China Morning Post did not specify the amount of revenue generated by the scheme, another source stated that the scheme has contributed to "hundreds of millions of dollars" flowing from China to Singapore. It did not elaborate if the amount was cumulative from the launch of the program in February 2015, or some other time period.

Good I hope China revokes all casino privileges in Singapore.macau casinos are doing badly,Wynn shares are down,casino revenues are down.better redirect business to Macau and Australia.

i hope to get hold of a dozen one arm bandits to set up a 24 hr local biz like those laundry shops

and dont worry, tiongsters can get their cash using OnionPay

China should then just sell their rockets to Batam from which they had wanted to fire rockets at MBS.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/plot-to-attack-marina-bay-with-rocket-from-batam-foiled

Plot to attack Marina Bay with rocket from Batam foiled
Indonesia's elite counter- terrorism unit Densus 88 carrying out a raid in Batam. Six members of a little-known terror cell called Katibah GR, or Cell GR, were arrested yesterday.
Indonesia's elite counter- terrorism unit Densus 88 carrying out a raid in Batam. Six members of a little-known terror cell called Katibah GR, or Cell GR, were arrested yesterday.PHOTO: FACEBOOK PAGE OF RAUF UTAMI
Published
Aug 6, 2016, 5:00 am SGT
Six terror cell members nabbed; leader was planning attack on Singapore
Arlina Arshad Indonesia Correspondent In Jakarta

The terror threat facing Singapore took on a more menacing face yesterday after six militants were arrested in Batam.

Police said their leader had been planning a rocket attack on Marina Bay together with a Syrian-based Indonesian ISIS militant. The six men in Batam had been kept under watch for a while before they were arrested by Indonesian police in an early-morning raid.

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said on Facebook: "Our security agencies have been coordinating closely with the Indonesian authorities to monitor the activities of this group and to apprehend those involved.

"We are grateful for the good cooperation by the Indonesian authorities and their actions to apprehend the group."

In response to this threat and the prevailing security situation, police and other agencies have been stepping up inland and border security measures, said Mr Teo. "This development highlights the seriousness of the terrorism threat to Singapore," he said.

Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said the six "were thinking of attacking Marina Bay with rockets", and "this shows how our enemies are thinking of different ways of attacking us".
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Indonesian anti-terror police with a bag containing a suspected firearm and other evidence taken from a building during yesterday's raid in Batam, where six members of the militant cell were arrested. Singapore's security agencies and their Indonesia
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Gigih Rahmat Dewa, ringleader of terror cell Katibah GR, was arrested at his home on Batam Island by Indonesian police yesterday. Five other cell members were also held. Analysts say the group is linked to radical ideologue Aman Abdurrahman, who poli
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He drew a parallel with Molenbeek, the Belgian town from which terrorists planned their assault on Paris last November and, in a series of coordinated attacks, killed 130 people. "There are several possible Molenbeeks around us from which attacks can be launched on Singapore. These include the Riau Islands," he said.

The islands are a short boat ride from Singapore and include Batam, where the six members of a little-known terror cell called Katibah GR, or Cell GR, were picked up yesterday by Indonesia's elite counter-terrorism unit Densus 88 along with the local police.

Five of those arrested work in electronics factories and one at a bank. They are between 19 and 46 years old. Their leader, Gigih Rahmat Dewa, 31, was nabbed at his house, where he lived with his wife and baby.

Indonesia's national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told reporters in Jakarta that Gigih "had planned to launch a rocket from Batam to Marina Bay Singapore".

He had planned this with Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian militant believed to have been fighting alongside the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Police said Gigih took orders from Bahrun, and among their plans was to attack public areas.

The two men were also part of the larger terror narrative unfolding in Indonesia. The cell was suspected of harbouring Uighurs, the Muslim ethnic group from China, some of whose members have joined extremists in Indonesia. It had also received funds to send fighters to Syria.

Mr Shanmugam said that in addition to lone wolves and radicalised groups, the terrorist threat to Singapore now also came from those seeking to come in through its checkpoints and those who would try to launch attacks from just outside.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said: "We should assume that there may be more plots, other terror cells on the lookout for ways, and new munitions to penetrate our defences. Terrorism is a global problem and no country is immune."