Fourth day under questioning for Adelson

Las Vegas land casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson was again on the witness stand in a Nevada court room Tuesday as litigation on jurisdiction regarding the alleged unfair dismissal of his former Macau executive Steven Jacobs entered its fourth day , with media and Nevada regulators among the audience.

Adelson was at times evasive and on occasion corrected himself as Jacobs’ attorney, James Pisanelli, questioned him on a wide ranging series of allegations regarding payments to alleged Macau “fixers,” lurid reports of a planned “hit” on a cheating Las Vegas Sands dealer, questionable company links with organised crime, Macau property deals, and reported US political funding from Chinese sources.

At one point Adelson appealed again to District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez to block as inappropriate a Pisanelli question about alleged dealings with Hong Kong businessman Cheung Chi-tai, a junket operator identified in a U.S. Senate report in 1992 as a high-ranking gang figure, and named in 2011 by a Hong Kong appeals court as an organized crime leader who ordered the death of a Sands Macau casino dealer.

Although a subordinate was convicted in the dealer murder conspiracy case, Cheung was not charged.

Adelson denied that his company did business with Cheung, and claimed the question was inappropriate, but the Judge insisted that the question was whether Adelson was aware of the death threats against his employee.

Adelson reiterated that whilst he would be interested in any death threats to his employees, his company was not doing business with Cheung. He claimed that the question was intended to portray him badly in relation to Jacobs.

Judge Gonzalez is being asked to rule on whether the Jacobs unfair termination case should be tried in the United States, from where Adelson is alleged to have interfered in the management of his Macau properties, or in Macau, where various events are alleged to have taken place.

Adelson appears to favour the issue being heard in Macau, whilst Jacobs is adamant that the case is within US jurisdiction.