One of Australia's largest casino operators was among the 92 victims of an HK$8.5 billion scam orchestrated by a now-disgraced lawyer. Four Hong Kong-listed companies and corporate high-flyers were also duped.
Before he was jailed for 12 years yesterday, Navin-kumar Aggarwal, 47, wrote a letter to the K&L Gates law firm of which he was a former partner, confessing his crime.
"I don't know what devil got into me," he said.
In a coincidence, one of Aggarwal's unsuspecting victims is Australian casino operator Crown Melbourne, which holds an equity interest in Melco Crown Entertainment - at whose Macau casino he gambled away HK$10 million in a day.
Crown Melbourne contributed to the HK$8 billion the 92 potential investors deposited with the law firm to prove they had sufficient funds or to secure a place in business opportunities that Aggarwal falsely claimed were available, the Court of First Instance heard.
Records show K&L Gates has sued Melco Crown to retrieve at least HK$9.9 million that the firm says Aggarwal misappropriated to gamble at the casino.
