Sands: Suen did ‘virtually nothing’ to help Macau sub-concession

‘There is no evidence that his [Suen] actions had any effect on the Macau license’ that allowed Las Vegas Sands to build the Venetian resort, a company attorney said on court

Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen did “virtually nothing” to help Las Vegas Sands win a gaming sub-concession in Macau, an attorney representing the company told a US court on Thursday. The State of Nevada Supreme Court has begun to assess Sands’ appeal of a lower jury decision that handed Suen nearly USD 60 million (MOP 480 million).
The businessmen asked for compensation, stating that a series of meetings he arranged in Beijing in July 2001 between Sands’ executives and Chinese officials helped the company enter the MSAR gaming market. Two years ago, following a 29-day trial, a Clark County District Court jury agreed and awarded Suen USD 43.8 million and another USD 14.8 million in interest.
On Thursday, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sands’ attorney David Frederick told the court: “There is no evidence that his [Suen] actions had any effect on the Macau license”. He said it was former Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah who created the sub-concession format after the company couldn’t reach an agreement with Galaxy Entertainment.
“There is not a shred of evidence that China had anything to do with the decision,” Frederick said. “They [the lower court jury] inferred the existence of that evidence. The claim was built on one conjecture, on top of another conjecture and on a third conjecture.”
Jurors interviewed by Las Vegas Review-Journal after the 2008 trial said they believed the meetings Suen set up were important. Frederick told the Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday that the Hong Kong-based businessman was “seeking unjust enrichment”.

Four-month wait ahead

Suen’s attorney told the court that the verdict “should have been higher” than USD 43.8 million. Todd Bice recalled that former Sands president Bill Weidner originally offered the businessman USD 5 million (MOP 40 million) and two percent of Macau operation’s net profits if he was successful “in delivering the license”. As such, the attorney said the reward was actually worth more than USD 100 million (MOP 800 million).
On the other hand, Sands lawyer David Frederick argued that if the company is forced to pay Suen there could be more negative consequences ahead. A group of associates the Hong Kong businessman used to set up the Beijing meetings – including Lenny Adelson, brother of Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson – could also sue the operator for compensation, he explained.
However, opposing lawyer Todd Bice dismissed that argument and assured that these associates would come to Suen for payment. “They [Sands] raised this issue as an afterthought because the jury verdict came out bad for them,” he said. “Even [Sheldon] Adelson told his own brother he needed to collect from Suen.”
The Nevada Supreme Court session lasted for nearly an hour before the seven justices decided to review the case. But one lawyer quoted by Las Vegas Review-Journal speculated it could be as long as four months before the final appeal court reaches a decision.
Back in 2002, a joint proposal of Galaxy Entertainment and Las Vegas Sands was one of the three bids chosen by the Government to liberalise the local gaming industry. However, later on the two operators could not reach an agreement, which led the Administration into creating the sub-concession format. Sands China, a Las Vegas Sands subsidiary, now operates Sands casino and Venetian resort in Macau and is building a new resort at Cotai plots 5 and 6.