Chow Tai Fook denies links to crime groups

Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) has again denied accusations of its alleged connections with international crime associations due to its owners’ connection to local gaming operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, S.A. (SJM), Bahamas newspaper Tribune 242 reported.
An open letter from a Bahamas group to the country’s Gaming Board warned the authorities for alleged ‘documented associations with international crime’ involving the group’s owners and the Macau gaming company.
Graeme Davis, the President of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited – a subsidiary of CTFE – considered the accusations were ‘baseless’ and ‘untrue’ as the group does not have ‘any oversight, control, direct or indirect influence’ in SJM.
Earlier this week, Chow Tai Fook completed its US$3.5 billion purchase agreement of casino-resort complex Baha Mar Resort, while Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd – a subsidiary of the group – is currently waiting for the approval for a casino license from the country’s gaming authorities, of which the process was described by the company’s president as “rigorous”.
This is not the first time that the Hong Kong-based conglomerate was alleged to have links with untoward activities.
Last November, a Bahamas politician requested the government to carry out an investigation on the purchase deal given by the business relations between the company’s chairman, Henry Cheng Kar Shun, and Macau magnate Stanley Ho Hung Sun – founder of Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM) which owns SJM.
The complaint claimed U.S. authorities’ investigations showed the gaming businessman had ties to Chinese criminal associations.