Lawsuit Claims Disgraced Casino Mogul Steve Wynn Acted as Chinese Agent

07:15
03 Jun

Casino mogul Steve Wynn has been accused of acting as an agent for China in an extra-judicial extradition attempt, with the US Department of Justice looking to have him register as a foreign agent for his actions...

The fortunes of the 80-year-old former CEO of Wynn Resorts have a taken drastic turn in recent years, Wynn ousted from the company he founded amid multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.

Banned from his own properties, Wynn is now facing a civil suit over claims he lobbied then-President Donald Trump to have a wealthy Chinese businessman returned to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to face corruption charges.

Guo Wengui, also known as Ho Wan ‘Miles’ Kwok, fled China in 2014 and has been in exile ever since, unwilling to return to face a multitude of charges, including rape, kidnapping, bribery, fraud and money laundering.

There is no extradition treaty between China and the USA, but Wynn allegedly lobbied for Guo’s return on behalf of Sun Lijun, Vice-minister of China’s Ministry of Public Security.

Despite several attempts to secure discussions between the Trump administration and Chinese officials, Wynn was reportedly rebuffed as Guo was close to Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon.

A DOJ press release stated that Wynn – described as “a U.S. businessperson and hotelier” – had previously been asked to register as a foreign agent but had declined to do so.

The legal complaint now seeks to compel him “to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as the agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)...”

Described as “the first such civil lawsuit in more than three decades”, Assistant AG Matthew G. Olsen stated:

“Where a foreign government uses an American as its agent to influence policy decisions in the United States, FARA gives the American people a right to know.”

Wynn is accused of requesting Guo’s US visa and asylum application be removed “directly to the then-President [Trump] over dinner and by phone,” on numerous occasions “from at least June 2017 through at least August 2017.”

His reasons for acting at the request of the PRC, it is alleged, stemmed from a desire to protect his business interests in Macau – Wynn’s company owning and operating several casinos in Macau, a special administrative region in the PRC.

Wynn’s fall from grace came after the Wall Street Journal revealed numerous interviews with women who worked for him. The WSJ claims the interviews “described behavior that amounted to a decades-long pattern of alleged sexual misconduct”.

Included in the story was an allegation ‘that Mr. Wynn in 2005 paid a $7.5 million settlement to a manicurist who told people at the time that Mr. Wynn forced her to have sex with him’.

The Las Vegas Review Journal added to the backlash against Wynn, stating: “Claims that casino developer Steve Wynn sexually harassed employees could have surfaced years ago but the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 1998 stopped publication of a story that would have brought the issue to light.

Their front-page lead added:

“After killing the article, the newspaper ordered the reporter who wrote it to delete it from the newspaper’s computer system.”

Wynn Resorts itself had to part with $20 million in way of a fine for Wynn’s alleged misconduct, though Wynn himself described some of the claims as “preposterous”.