Paradise Company Limited being investigated by South Korean tax authority

South Korean casino operator Paradise Company Limited has reportedly confirmed that it is one of the many subjects of an official investigation looking into a range of tax-related wrongdoing allegations.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the National Tax Service probe into the Seoul-listed firm was first revealed by the local Mirae Biz news organization on Wednesday and is said to be examining 38 entities that are alleged to have committed an array of crimes including the embezzlement of corporate funds and tax evasion.

Recent reversal:

Paradise Company Limited is responsible for the giant Paradise City integrated casino resort near the port city of Incheon as well as smaller hotel-based venues in the South Korean communities of Seoul, Jeju and Busan. The source detailed that the operator has had a difficult 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic and recently revealed that its aggregated gaming revenues for the eight months from the start of January had fallen by 51.4% year-on-year to $202.23 million.

Ambiguous answer:

Home to approximately 51.7 million people, South Korea has so far recorded 480 deaths attributed to coronavirus and earlier instituted multiple temporary casino closure orders that were designed to help stop the spread of the potentially-deadly contagion. Paradise Company Limited re-opened its foreigner-only Paradise City property on September 9 following a week-long shuttering and reportedly declared that it has yet to be officially informed as to the ‘the exact purpose’ of the National Tax Service investigation.

Damaging dilemma:

Paradise operates the 711-room Paradise City development in partnership with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Incorporated and furthermore saw its aggregated gaming revenues for August plummet by 75% year-on-year to just over $14.55 million as a direct result of the coronavirus-related closure orders in addition to subsequent regulations that instituted a plethora of new social distancing and reduced capacity mandates.