中國正式逮捕3名澳大利亞博彩公司員工

SYDNEY — The Chinese authorities have formally arrested three Australian employees of the casino operator Crown Resorts who had been detained in mid-October in an investigation into the promotion of gambling in China.

悉尼——中國當局已正式逮捕了賭場運營商皇冠度假酒店集團的三名澳大利亞員工，他們于10月中旬在中國遭到拘留，當時當局正在對博彩推廣活動展開調(diào)查。

The three, who were not named in a short news release on Wednesday by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, were detained along with 15 other Crown Resorts employees after police raids in China on Oct. 13 and 14. In China, the police can hold people in custody without placing them under arrest or filing charges.

在本周三發(fā)布的一份簡短的新聞稿中，澳大利亞外交和貿(mào)易部沒有透露這三人的姓名。10月13日和14日，他們在中國警方的突查行動中與其他15名皇冠度假酒店員工一起被拘留。在中國，警方可以在沒有逮捕或控罪的情況下拘禁一個人。

“The Australian government has now been formally notified of the arrest of three Australian Crown employees on suspicion of gambling offenses,” the statement said. It added that consular officials had visited the Australians in Shanghai, but it gave no details about the remaining 15 employees. The local news media reported that one Crown employee had been released.

“澳大利亞政府已經(jīng)獲得正式通知，這三名雇員因涉嫌賭博罪被逮捕。”聲明還表示，上海總領事館的官員已經(jīng)去探望了這些澳大利亞人，但沒有詳細說明其他15名雇員的情況。當?shù)氐男侣劽襟w報道說，其中一名雇員已被釋放。

Crown Resorts, one of Australia’s largest hotel and casino companies, has operations in Melbourne and Perth and has plans to open a huge casino resort on Sydney’s harbor. It also has casinos in London, Macau and Manila. A company spokeswoman declined to comment on the arrests.

皇冠集團是澳大利亞最大的博彩公司之一，在墨爾本和珀斯開展業(yè)務，并且計劃在悉尼港口開設一個大型賭場度假村。該公司在倫敦、澳門和馬尼拉也設有賭場。公司發(fā)言人對逮捕事件拒絕置評。

Details of the charges the Australians may face will not be known until later in the legal process. Chinese law allows those arrested to be held in custody throughout.

這些澳大利亞人可能面臨的指控細節(jié)，要隨著法律程序的進行才能得知。根據(jù)中國法律，警方可以在整個過程中一直扣押被逮捕人。

Casinos are not allowed to advertise in mainland China, where gambling is illegal, but Crown and other companies can promote high-end resorts and other tourist attractions. They also frequently offer big-spending gamblers help in obtaining visas, and free hotel rooms, chartered jets and private gambling as inducements to visit.

在中國大陸，賭博是非法的，不允許賭場做廣告，但皇冠和其他公司可以推廣高端度假村和其他旅游景點。他們還經(jīng)常為高消費賭徒提供簽證協(xié)助、免費酒店客房、包機和私人博彩服務，誘導他們前往消費。