澳洲皇冠度假酒店在华被捕员工获刑
A Chinese court on Monday jailed 16 current and former employees of Crown Resorts, the AustrAlian casino group controlled by billionaire James Packer, for between nine and 10 months for organising gambling trips for high-rollers.
一家中国法院周一判处澳大利亚皇冠度假酒店集团(Crown Resorts)的16名现雇员和前雇员监禁9至10个月，罪名是他们组织出手阔绰的贵宾客户出境赌博。这家赌场集团由亿万富翁詹姆斯?帕克(James Packer)控股。Australian Jason O’Connor, head of Crown’s international VIP operations, and Alfread Gomez, Crown’s Malaysian vice-president of operations in China, both received 10-month sentences, concluding a prosecution that forced Crown to abandon its overseas ambitions and hit revenues at its casinos.
皇冠的国际VIP团队主管、澳大利亚人贾森?奥康纳(Jason O’Connor)，以及皇冠在华业务副总裁、马来西亚人阿尔弗雷德?戈麦斯(Alfread Gomez)，均被判10个月的刑期，结束了迫使皇冠放弃海外雄心、打击其赌场营收的公诉。Nineteen defendants were all convicted of “organising gambling parties”, with 16 receiving jail sentences and fines totalling Rmb8.6m ($1.3m), Crown said in a statement, adding that the company would pay the entire amount. Mr O’Connor was handed the heaviest fine, amounting to Rmb2m.
皇冠在一份声明中表示，19名被告均被判犯有聚众赌博罪，其中16人被判有期徒刑，同时共计被罚款860万元人民币（合130万美元），其中奥康纳接到200万元人民币的最高罚单。该公司将全额承担罚款。
The case highlighted Crown’s efforts to lure rich gamblers to its resorts in Australia from the Chinese mainland, where gambling is illegal, and hit Crown’s share price, prompting Mr Packer to restructure his business empire.
此案揭示了皇冠从中国内地吸引富裕赌客到其在澳大利亚的度假村的努力，并打击了皇冠股价，促使帕克重组其商业帝国。在中国，赌博是非法的。The group’s share price sank 14 per cent in October on the trading day after the arrests of 18 employees by Chinese authorities, and took seven months to recover.
去年10月，在中国当局逮捕该公司18名雇员后的第二个交易日，皇冠股价下跌14%，之后花了7个月时间恢复过来。Two other Australian staff, Jerry Xuan and Jenny Pan, received sentences of nine months, according to Australian officials, while 12 other former and current Chinese employees received nine- to 10-month sentences, Mr Gomez’s lawyer Zhai Jian told the Financial Times.
据澳大利亚官员介绍，另外两名澳大利亚籍员工Jerry Xuan和Jenny Pan获刑9个月。另据戈麦斯的律师翟建告诉英国《金融时报》，12名中国籍的前雇员和现雇员被判9至10个月徒刑。
The charges were bought under prosecution guidelines dating from 2005 specifying that “organising a group of more than 10 people to gamble overseas” was an offence, Mr Zhai said.
翟建表示，本案的罪名是根据2005年出台的起诉指引提出的。《最高人民法院、最高人民检察院关于办理赌博刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释》规定“组织中华人民共和国公民10人以上赴境外赌博”构成犯罪。Australia’s consul general in Shanghai, Graeme Meehan, said he had left Chinese authorities “in no doubt about our close interest in the case”, speaking outside the court in the Shanghai district of Baoshan where the hours-long hearing was held.
澳大利亚驻上海总领事梅耕瑞(Graeme Meehan)表示，他向中国当局“明确表示了我方对这一案件的密切兴趣”。他是在上海宝山区法院外说这番话的，持续数小时的庭审在这里的法庭进行。The defendants, all but three of whom have been held in the grim conditions of a Shanghai detention centre since October, all pleaded guilty, he added. Time already spent in detention is counted as part of the sentence, meaning the jailed staff will be freed within weeks.
他补充说，被告人已全部认罪；除3人外，所有人自去年10月以来一直被羁押在上海某个拘留中心，条件艰苦。由于在押期间算作刑期，被监禁的员工将在几周后获释。Three of the defendants who had previously been released on bail did not receive jail sentences despite pleading guilty.
之前取保候审的3名被告人虽然认罪，但没有被判入狱服刑。“It’s a relatively light sentence, probably because they pled guilty and recognised their crimes,” said Shanghai-based criminal lawyer Si Weijiang.
“这是比较轻的量刑，可能是因为他们认罪，承认了自己的罪行，”上海刑事律师斯伟江表示。
