The executive director and CEO of Donaco International Ltd., an Asian casino operator, has been furloughed to address “health and personal issues.” The company told the Australian Stock Exchange on Thursday that it expects Joey Lim Keong You, pictured, to be away for about three months.
Lim leads the company’s casino and hospitality businesses. They are in Cambodia in Poipet, a place that borders Vietnam and Thailand near the border with Yunnan in mainland China.
The company said that while Lim is away, his brother, non-executive director Ben Lim Keong Hoe, will serve as managing director and chief executive. Joey Lim will be taking home about a third of his current salary, although he will do strategy-related work during his vacation. His brother will receive an exempted amount of $8,450 per month.
“The board is very pleased that Ben Lim has agreed to rise to the senior executive position and lead the company during the transition. We also congratulate Joey Lim on his recognition of the need to focus on his personal well-being and health and wish him all the best for his speedy recovery,” said Donaco President Stuart McGregor. The statement made no additional comment on the nature of the disease.
The Lim brothers jointly own 17.4 percent of Donaco’s shares. The company’s website states that Ben Lim is a director of Donaco Singapore, the majority shareholder of Genting Development Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian real estate developer.
The two Lim brothers mentioned in Donaco’s Thursday filing are the grandson of Malaysian Genting Group founder Lim Gortong and nephew of current Genting Bhd chairman Lim Kok Thai, according to the disclosed sources.
While the de facto managing director is away, Donaco said it will find a chief operating officer and deputy chief executive to “strengthen and strengthen” its operations at the company’s casinos.
Donaco is in a dispute with several Thai businessmen who previously owned the Star Vegas resort and club in Poipet. Donaco said the trio were running two competing casinos in violation of a valid agreement. The company has referred the dispute to arbitrators in Singapore and is airing aspects of the dispute in Australian courts.
Donaco lost after paying A$124.5 million ($91.1 million) in taxes in the fiscal year ended June 30, taking into account the non-cash impairment cost of A$143.9 million in the value of Star Vegas’ license, a result of the ongoing dispute.
Donaco executive director Ben Reichel told investors last month that the start of the current trading period was “soft.” Profits at Vietnam’s Aristotel International Hotel Casino also suffered from “threats from Chinese criminal gangs” that deter VIP players and junkets.
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