Melco hides Stanley Ho ties in plain sight

Australia Broadcasting Corp’s Four Corners investigation of Crown Sydney skewers James Packer and former New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell. It touches on links between Melco and Stanley Ho that the Hong Kong and New York listed casino operator has managed to hide in plain sight for 15 years. Melco’s culture of denial enabled its futile bid to acquire Crown that lost US$235 million while awarding a US$19 million bonus to the doomed deal’s architect, Melco chairman Lawrence Ho.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a columnist for iGaming Business, a contributor to Forbes and Inside Asian Gaming, columnist/correspondent for Asia Times, and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.