Laos’ King Romans Casino co-owner decries ‘transnational criminal’ tag

Embattled Chinese casino operator Zhao Wei has cried foul over the “transnational criminal organization” (TCO) tag that the U.S. government gave his company.

“Hegemonic act of ulterior motives” was how Zhao Wei, co-owner of Kings Roman Casino in Laos, described the U.S. Treasury’s findings linking his network to trafficking in drugs, people and wildlife, according to the Radio Free Asia report.

In a statement issued over the weekend, Zhao dismissed the findings ofthe Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as a “malicious rumor-mongering” aimed at misleading the public.  He denied being involved in any illicit activities.

“As an investor, all of my own activities and those of my staff and companies in all countries and areas are legal, ordinary business operations supervised by the legal authorities of the relevant countries that have not harmed the interests of any country or individual,” Zhao said, according to the news outlet.