South Korean casino operator Landing International Development is wearing egg on its face after a staffer apparently absconded with millions of dollars over the holidays. 

In an ‘inside information announcement’ to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Landing somewhat sheepishly revealed that it discovered Monday that some KRW14.56b (US$13.4m) in company funds maintained in the South Korean holiday island of Jeju was ‘missing.’ 

Landing went on to explain that the company is “unable to reach the employee-in-charge of the funds.” Landing said it has alerted South Korean police regarding the incident and an investigation is underway. Landing’s board of directors is also “gathering information in relation to the incident.” 

Landing operates the Jeju Shinhwa World resort casino on the island, one of South Korea’s larger foreigner-only gambling venues. Like most of its local rivals, Jeju Shinhwa saw its fortunes slide as the pandemic caused the flow of foreign gamblers to slow to a trickle.