Star High-roller With $43m Debt Ordered to Front Aussie Court
A VIP casino patron who is accused of racking up a $43 million baccarat debt will be forced to appear in an Australian court.
A Brisbane judge has overruled the bid of Dr. Wong Yew Choy to set aside the legal action started by Star Entertainment Group against him. The Brisbane casino operator is seeking to get the money owed by the high-roller for his gambling losses generated in 2018.
At the time, Justice Thomas Badley said he was not persuaded that green-lighting the proceedings will have the desired effect for the gambling operator. Previously, the Singapore International Commercial Court decided that Star had no legal grounds to claim the money owed by the gambler.
Dr. Wong had been first taken to Singapore’s High Court by the Star in February 2018 after he left the company’s Queensland casino without paying his debt that was generated in the period from July 26, 2018, to August 2, 2018. The casino operator is trying to recover the value of a dishonored cheque that was signed by Dr. Wong to settle his debt with the casino under a cheque cashing facility agreement. It was not determined by the Singapore court whether the casino operator had the legal rights claimed or whether it had proved the alleged facts to establish its claims against the player. After signing a blank cheque to cover his expenses at the casino, it is alleged Dr. Wong returned home only to stop the payment of the cheque and then applied to set aside the lawsuit that The Star filed against him.
As a result of this latest ruling, Dr. Wong will have to appear in court and plead a defense to the essence of the claims made by Star for a second time in Australia, because the Singapore proceedings settled none of the issues raised by the operator.
Star Chases High Roller For $43 Million
An Australian casino operator has doubled down on its bid to sue an Asian high roller gambling for a debt racked up at its Gold Coast casino.
The Canberra Times reported in early April that the Star Entertainment Group is suing Dr. Wong Yew Choy for allegedly dishonouring a blank cheque after a five-day losing streak playing baccarat at The Star Gold Coast. It is alleged that Dr. Wong owes up to $43 million.
After losing an international bid to pursue Dr. Wong over the debt in Singapore, Star Casino has been granted leave to pursue the billionaire in the Queensland Supreme Court. The well-known Asian gambler had been lured to the Gold Coast casino as part of a marketing junket in July 2018. The gambling mogul opened his account with a $40 million cheque to buy gaming chips before hitting the baccarat table. Within three days, the billionaire lost the entire $40 million, documents lodged in Queensland Supreme Court reveal.
Undeterred by the massive loss, the billionaire splashed out another $10 million in chips. After seven days at the tables, Dr. Wong left The Star owing $43,209,853.34, including a room tab topping more than $420,000. After returning to Singapore, Dr. Wong stopped payment on a blank cheque he signed to cover his losses incurred during the stay.
Singapore Court Dismissed Star’s Lawsuit
In 2019, the Singapore court dismissed The Star’s lawsuit against Wong, seeking to recover his gambling debts. The court cited the Singapore Civil Law Act prohibiting the government from assisting foreign companies seeking to recover debts related to overseas gambling. “The claims against me are therefore frivolous, vexatious, or otherwise an abuse of the court process,” Dr. Wong claimed.
International Judge Jeremy Cooke favoured Dr. Wong, ordering the claim be struck out and the VIP high roller be paid $20,000 plus costs. However, Star Entertainment has refused to fold, taking its legal fight to the Queensland Supreme Court.
Dr. Wong filed a conditional notice of intention to defend, disputing the court’s jurisdiction and arguing the proceedings to be an abuse of process.
