3 Australians among 16 jailed in Crown Resorts case

A Chinese court jailed 16 employees of Crown Resorts Ltd, including three Australians, in a quick- fire trial on Monday that caps a lengthy probe into how the firm lured Chinese highrollers to its casinos.

Melbourne- based Crown, 49 percent owned by billionaire James Packer, said in a statement the employees were jailed for between nine to 10 months and handed a total fine of 8.62 million yuan ($ 1.26 million), which Crown would pay.

The sentences will run from the date the employees were first detained on October 14 last year, meaning they would only have a couple of months left to serve. A lawyer for the defendants said they were “satisfied with the result.”

The case prompted Crown, the world’s biggest listed casino company outside of China, to retreat from global expansion plans and sell off assets in China’s gambling hub Macao, and instead shift its focus back home.

The Australian consul general in Shanghai, Graeme Meehan, earlier told reporters outside the Baoshan District Court that Crown’s head of international VIP gambling Jason O’Connor was given a 10- month sentence. The two other Australians, Jane Pan and Jerry Xuan, were handed ninemonth sentences.

A total of 19 defendants, also including one Malaysian citizen, were formally charged earlier this month, having been first detained late last year. Zhai Jian, a defence lawyer, said the defendants had pled guilty.