Gambling, Foreign Money and Political Corruption

Casino mega-mogul and financier of right-wing politicians here and in Israel Sheldon "Smelly Shelly" Adelson is a major force in the Republican / New Confederate / Stupid / Shooter's Party, having put up over $100 million of his estimated $20 billion fortune in a losing effort to defeat President Obama in 2012.  Smelly Shelly's reach goes beyond his Las Vegas gambling empire to the international gambling mecca of Macau, where he's a major player in the shadowy mix of gambling and Chinese politics.  He's also the recent purchaser of Las Vegas' largest newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he's certain to put his own right-wing editorial slant on the paper.

In his excellent article in the March/April issue of Mother Jones, Matt Isaacs delves into the story of Smelly Shelly's more recent activities in Macau.  Here are a few clips that stand out, starting with a chilling account of a burglary at the home of a former employee of Smelly Shelly's, who is suing him:

"Jacobs had his suspicions as to why his house had been burgled. For five years he'd been locked in a protracted legal battle with one of the wealthiest men on Earth. Jacobs had filed a wrongful-termination case, accusing his former boss of ordering him to perform 'illegal activities.' Could the burglary have been the desperate act of some yes-man or fixer, or even the gangsters he'd encountered while working in China? 'I don't know who is behind it,' Jacobs testified in a subsequent legal proceeding, admitting he had no facts to suggest it was his old employer. 'I know who might have a benefit or interest in understanding what information I may have had.'"

There's a connection between the lawsuit that Steve Jacobs has brought against Smelly Shelly and the 2016 elections, where the casino mogul has already been courted by each of the Rethug candidates for President. As the saying goes, "follow the money":

"Adelson's casinos in Macau, a special administrative region of China, provide the majority of the revenue for his company, Las Vegas Sands. But beneath Macau's glitz lurk organized crime, corruption, and a shadow banking system that has allegedly laundered billions of dollars for China's ruling elite. In 2013, the chair of Nevada's powerful Gaming Control Board told a federal commission that it was 'common knowledge' that the lucrative VIP rooms in Macau casinos have 'long been dominated by Asian organized crime.' That same year, a federal commission cited a study finding that more than $200 billion in 'ill-gotten funds are channeled through Macau each year.'

Which raises the question: Is dirty money spent by corrupt Chinese officials at Macau casinos flowing into our elections, at least indirectly?" (emphasis added)

What follows is Isaacs' detailed account of the convoluted and often corrupt dealings involving the casino business in Macao.  It's those dealings which led to investigations into potential violations by Smelly Shelly of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars U.S. businesses from bribing foreign officials, something we've posted on.

That's the world (underworld would be more accurate) that the Citizens United decision has brought us.  Smelly Shelly's both a product and a beneficiary of that world.