Jason O’Connor: Crowning achievements to China prison hell

Crown’s Jason ­O’Connor is enduring a Chinese prison hell after being caught in a gambling promotion crackdown.

Jason O'Connor and wife Christina on holiday at Uluru

Just six months ago Jason ­O’Connor was enjoying a trip to Uluru with his beaming wife and children.

Today the affable accountant is enduring a Chinese prison hell after being caught in a gambling promotion crackdown that yesterday wiped $632 million from James Packer’s casino empire.

Mr O’Connor’s shellshocked wife Christina was at the home the couple share with daughters Kasey and Chloe in the Melbourne suburb of McKinnon, grappling with the prospect that her 47-year-old husband could be charged and detained in a ­Chinese cell for years.

As a senior executive respon­sible for luring high-rolling casino players to Australia, Mr O’Connor was one of 18 Crown Resorts staff arrested across China by authorities investigating alleged “gambling crimes”.

His Perth-based brother, Nick, said yesterday: “I hope you can understand that this is a very troubling time for our family.”

As speculation mounted that police in China were preparing to lay charges, Crown Resorts chairman Rob Rankin held an emergency board meeting by phone last night to be brought up to date on the latest efforts by the company and DFAT to contact the staff and secure their release.

Shares in Crown plummeted 13.9 per cent to $11.15 yesterday — their biggest one-day fall — as investors digested the impact of the arrests on the financial viability of Mr Packer’s planned $2 billion Sydney casino at Barangaroo if it is unable to lure wealthy Chinese gamblers to Australia.

The fall wiped $632m from Mr Packer’s wealth and the arrests sent shockwaves through the local gaming sector, amid concerns that a Chinese crackdown on marketing to VIP clients could have a widespread impact on high rollers visiting Australian resorts.

Shares in Crown’s Australian rival Star Entertainment closed 3.7 per cent lower, while shares in Sky City — which owns six casinos in Australia and New Zealand — closed 3.9 per cent lower.

It is understood the Crown marketing team had been working on the Chinese mainland for 12 months before the arrests, which included the head of the group’s VIP International team, Mr O’Connor and Shanghai-based Crown employee Jiang Ling.

Crown said yesterday it had not been able to speak with its employees and had yet to be given details about why they had been detained.

The promotion of gambling is prohibited in China; only the hotel, restaurant and entertainment facilities of casino resorts can be marketed.

The move by Chinese authorities is part of a crackdown by President Xi Jinping on corruption and money laundering.

In mid-2015, the Chinese government launched Operation Chain Break, intended to break the connection between Chinese money flows and foreign casinos. Korean casino group Grand Korea Leisure and Paradise Co was the first major target; Crown is now apparently the second. Chinese authorities arrested 47 Korean and Chinese casino staff employed by Grand Korea Leisure and Paradise Co in June last year for “soliciting and organising Chinese citizens to gamble overseas”. The Koreans are believed to be in detention 18 months later.

Christina O’Connor, whose husband Jason has been arrested in China, at her Melbourne home yesterday. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Mr Packer has long pitched his Sydney casino, a long-held dream, as a venue for high rollers from Asia. The billionaire holds a 48.2 per cent stake in Crown Resorts. In a letter to the NSW government three years ago, Mr Packer said that Crown Sydney could almost treble the volume of VIP business coming to Sydney from Asia, and in particular China. “Crown has the advantage of being able to leverage its joint venture in Macau — Melco Crown Entertainment,” he said. “In addition Crown has an extensive sales network throughout Asia and has a proven track record of attracting high net worth tourists and VIP gaming customers from Asia to Australia for almost 20 years.”

The billionaire is monitoring the current China situation from Los Angeles.

A Crown investor said yesterday: “With Barangaroo people were previously sceptical about the numbers. And the numbers probably don’t stack up on the project if they can’t attract the high rollers.’’

Another observer familiar with the Barangaroo project remarked: “The business case for Barangaroo would be affected, but not fatally. It will still have one of the best hotels in the world, local VIP gamblers and there will be significant apartment sales revenue.’’

Crown, which will hold its annual general meeting in Perth on Thursday, is scheduled to open a new Crown Towers hotel in that city in November which will also be targeted at Asian high rollers. The families of the 18 Crown staff being held in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou were briefed by a law firm hired by the company yesterday afternoon. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said: “Consular officials in Shanghai are making arrangements to visit the Australians to offer appropriate assistance, all of whom have legal representation provided by their employer.”

Additional reporting: Sarah-Jane Tasker, Scott Murdoch