A Chinese tech tycoon is denying that his nine-figure gambling losses at Saipan’s Imperial Pacific casino are to blame for the near-bankruptcy of smartphone giant Gionee.

Last weekend, Chinese business media outlet Securities Times published an interview with Gionee chairman/CEO Liu Lirong in which he denied reports that he’d lost up to RMB10b (US$1.44b) gambling at the Imperial Pacific Resort casino on the island of Saipan.

Gionee, which holds 6% of China’s smartphone market, is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, with around RMB17b in debts on its balance sheet. Suppliers have cut off the company after several months of non-payments, leaving the company’s future severely in doubt.

In January, a court in the Chinese city of Dongguan ordered a two-year freeze of Liu’s 41% stake in Gionee, reportedly based on growing awareness of the exec’s mounting gambling debts.