Foreign employees from Crown Resorts sentenced to prison – China’s latest business and technology news

The New York Times reports that on June 26, three foreign workers from Crown Resorts, an Australia-based hotel and casino operator, were sentenced by a Shanghai court for less than a year in jail for violating gambling promotion regulations in China. Thirteen other employees, one Malaysian and 12 Chinese, received similar sentences.

In October 2016, the Chinese authorities detained a total of 18 employees from Crown Resorts in the midst of a crackdown on gambling that was in part triggered by the government’s far-reaching campaign against corruption. Although Crown Resorts doesn’t own casinos based in mainland China, where gambling is illegal, it opened an office on the mainland to help with marketing and arranged trips for Chinese wealthy players to visit its casinos in other regions, including Macau, a special administrative region under Beijing’s rule known for its plethora of casinos. Jason O’Connor, one of the three Australian employees sentenced to prison, was a high-level executive from Crown who oversaw the company’s efforts to lure Chinese gamblers.

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