Crown staff risk 10-year jail term
FOUR Australians are among 19 staff and associates of Crown Resorts who each face a maximum of 10 years in jail in a closed courtroom trial on the outskirts of Shanghai tomorrow, the bitter end of the company’s ill-fated bid for a slice of China’s massive casino market in Macau.
Chinese lawyers have tipped that staff, who include Melbourne father of two Jason O’Connor, will be hit with sentences of three years or less after being charged with “gambling crimes” on June 18 but could avoid the additional charge of “money laundering” which is seen as more serious.
Shanghai- based criminal lawyer Si Weijiang, partner at Debund Law Firm told the Sunday Territorian: “The defendants will be convicted – 99 per cent of the cases are convicted.”
But he predicted that the final judgment would be less than three years.
Jin Chunyu, partner at Shanghai Bright and Young Law Firm agreed.
“The usual legal punishment of this crime is no more than three years in prison and a fine if the crime isn’t ‘serious’, and if it is, then above three years and no more than 10 years with a fine,” he said.
The other Australian detainees are Jerry Xuan, Jenny Pan Dan and an unknown person.
The trial will presided over by Judge Zhang Kai and two other judges at the Criminal court branch of the Baoshan People’s Court, 30km from downtown Shanghai.