Star Entertainment investor Chow Tai Fook Enterprises linked to organised crime figure: report

A major investment partner of Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf casino maintained a secret relationship with organised crime figures and conducted shady handshake deals, an explosive report has found.

A major investment partner of Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf casino maintained a relationship with an organised crime figure and conducted handshake deals, an explosive government report has found.

Chow Tai Fook Enterprises — now at the centre of Star’s hopes of staying afloat — misled the Queensland Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation by failing to disclose its ongoing links to convicted criminal and former head of Suncity Group Alvin Chau.

These findings were contained in a report commissioned by the state government in 2022, and finally released late on Thursday as promised by the LNP.

Several investigations were launched to assess CFTE’s suitability following claims it had a working relationship with Mr Chau’s Suncity junket operation, which brought high-rollers to Australia from Hong Kong and Macau.

CTFE and its legal team repeatedly denied a relationship with the now-jailed Mr Chau.

The independent investigation by PKF Australia has now revealed CTFE had a relationship with Mr Chau through its involvement in the Vietnam casino project “Hoi An South/Hoiana.”

“CTFE had previously provided OLGR with incorrect, incomplete and/or inconsistent information in relation to those interests and relationships,” the report stated.

“During the course of this investigation, CTFE disclosed substantive new information to OLGR and PKF on 9 October 2023.”

The Star Brisbane is in limbo amid its parent company’s financial woes.

That new information included providing loans to business associates of Mr Chau through handshake deals.

“The loans were initially undocumented and based on a ‘handshake agreement’ … until May 2018, when they were documented with assistance from the CTFE legal team,” the report stated.

“CTFE has disclosed that as of October 29, 2023, the outstanding loans were $US388m.”

The report, however, found no evidence that CTFE subsidiary New World was used as a front for triad activity and money laundering, nor did it find evidence of ties with criminal figures of the Macau casino, as previously alleged.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles defended Labor’s 2022 decision to allow CTFE to continue its involvement in the Queen’s Wharf development but says the state government now has a big decision to make over whether it lets the company gain more control of the Brisbane site.

“The government has a big decision to make now about whether they approve the expanded influence of these organisations... to allow them to effectively take over the whole of Queens walk Brisbane and the Star casino,” he said.

“That’ll be an important consideration for them.”

Investigations into the suitability of QTFE were launched under two of Labor’s former Attorney-Generals, Yvette D’Ath and Shannon Fentiman.

No action was taken against the company.

Suncity Group’s former head Alvin Chau

Mr Miles conceded that the latest PKF report into CTFE which found the company had criminal ties was “obviously concerning,” but said Labor’s past decisions were based on CTFE having a smaller stake in Queen’s Wharf.

“There was a consideration made about whether they were appropriate to own part of that venture, now that they have a proposal, effectively own all of it, that’s a different consideration,” he said, adding that if Attorney-General Deb Frecklington was concerned about those past decisions, she would be “very concerned about the decision she now needs to make”.

When asked about the accuracy of submissions made to OLGR about CTFE’s associations with Mr Chau, the owners of the Vietnam Project, Mr Tsang said the “points are accurate, but they are not as fulsome as they should be … in looking back … we should have done a better job”.

“I think we have also … apologised for this … failure … we probably took a too narrow a view of the scope … of that question,” he said.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said the report and advice had been tabled in keeping with the government’s election commitment.

“The Crisafulli government remains committed to transparency and fulfilling the promises it has made to Queenslanders,” she said.

Originally published as Star Entertainment investor Chow Tai Fook Enterprises linked to organised crime figure: report