Finger pointing in failed Macau floating casino project

Dragon Corp is blaming Brova Idea, a Norway based company it hired to build the floating casino off Macau, for its inability to make the project a reality.

Dragon Corp had an agreement with Brova Idea to build the project, however, the company backed out in November 2017, over the delay in payment and changes in the contract.

In a statement to the Macau News Agency, lawyers for Dragon Corp said Brova, could not secure the needed funds meant for the project.

They said the CEO of Brova, Milo Andric, began to act suspiciously which caused a loss of momentum for the project towards the end of last year.

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They asserted that Andric, contrary to the contract, demanded an upfront payment without providing evidence that 80% of the project funding was already secured.

In an interview with the MNA, the CEO of Dragon Corp Chakrit Ahmad said the terms of the agreement had not been met.

“He demanded cash up front,” he said.

“We pushed for Escrow or Bank Guarantee and the escrow or Bank Guarantee would have been released once the financing [of] 80 per cent was secured according to his promise.”

The CEO also refuted claims by Andric that Dragon Corp was not ready to launch a floating casino, claiming he sent an investigative group to Norway for due diligence and later invited Andric to Hong Kong on an all-expense paid trip.

Dragon intended to construct a $300 million casino, Dragon Pearl in the waters off Macau and held a crowd sale last year to raise fund for the project, receiving $500 million in investment.

The casino was also to operate with its own cryptocurrency, the Dragon Coin, with the hope that it would help it compete against junket operators.