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Sheldon Adelson Company Admits Likely Bribery

Las Vegas Sands will cooperate with investigators

by
Allison Hoffman
March 04, 2013
Sheldon Adelson.(CBS)
Sheldon Adelson.(CBS)

Over the weekend, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands, which has been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and the FBI in connection with its Chinese operations, acknowledged in new regulatory filings that its own auditors had found “there were likely violations of the books and records and internal controls provisions” of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

It was the first such admission by the company, which says it is cooperating with investigators. According to its statement, Sands–which provides Adelson with the $24.9 billion fortune he spends on an array of philanthropic and political undertakings, from sponsoring Birthright Israel to underwriting the Tel Aviv daily Israel Hayom and donating heavily to Republican political causes–expects no material impact to its shareholders from the findings. But the federal probes are continuing, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Sands, or its executives, may eventually be fined or criminally charged.

The news comes on the heels of reports that Adelson filed a libel suit against a Wall Street Journal reporter who described the voluble red-headed 78-year-old as “foul-mouthed.” Curses, indeed.

Allison Hoffman is a senior editor at Tablet Magazine. Her Twitter feed is @allisont_dc.