The Cabo Verde government has cancelled all its contracts with Macau Legend Development (MLD) accusing the company of “flagrantly and repeatedly” violating its obligations over a US$265 million tourism and casino development in the capital Praia.
According to a statement signed by Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, and cited by the Portuguese news agency Lusa, “the contractual violations perpetrated by MLD occurred at various levels ” and included “transferring, without authorization from the Government of Cape Verde, the ownership of more than 20 percent of the share capital” of the venture.
The statement, published in the official gazette, also referenced “convictions, by the courts of the Macau Special Administrative Region, of shareholders, administrators and other [stakeholders] with rights and responsibilities in MLD,” as well as “the economic and financial situation of the parent company.”
[See more: Doubts surround David Chow’s casino project in Cabo Verde]
Macao businessman David Chow signed an agreement with the Cabo Verde government in 2015 to build the project. While the first stone was laid in 2016, development of the 160,000-square-metre site did not proceed beyond some empty, rudimentary structures.
In December 2023, Chow’s investment in the African archipelago was branded as “untenable.” Also in 2023, the president and executive director of MLD, Li Chu Kwan, said that the group intended to wind down its projects in Cabo Verde and Cambodia by 2025. A year earlier, MLD’s former co-chairman Levo Chan was imprisoned for illicit gambling and money laundering.
According to a half-year financial statement, MLD had net current liabilities of approximately HK$2.5 billion as of 30 June 2024 and incurred a net loss of roughly HK$109.9 million during the same period. MLD’s total bank and other borrowings amounted to HK$2.4 billion, either due for repayment within 12 months from the end of the reporting period or repayable on demand. Cash and cash equivalents amounted to HK$65.1 million.
