Did Stanley Ho’s family steal his casino empire?

Confusion surrounds the assets of Stanley Ho after the Hong Kong casino tycoon contradicted assertions by his lawyer on Tuesday that his family had stolen shares in his gambling empire and left him with "almost nothing." 

Gordon Oldham, a senior partner at the Oldham, Li & Nie law firm said Tuesday that Ho, 89 years old and ailing, had not authorized the transfer of shares in a holding company to his family members that was announced Monday as part of a restructuring.

But according to the Financial Times, Ho denied his lawyer’s assertions late Tuesday, saying the earlier share transfer had been “100 percent in accordance with my intentions.” 

The story has reignited concerns about succession plans for Ho's $10 billion casino company, SJM Holdings. 

Ho’s six casinos have almost a third of the world’s most lucrative gaming market. The number of wealthy mainland Chinese flocking to Macao helped it leap past Las Vegas in 2006 to become the world’s biggest gambling center. Ho enjoyed a monopoly of the gaming industry in the former Portuguese colony until 2002.

Since the billionaire's health deteriorated following brain surgery in 2009, intense speculation has swirled over the risks of a potentially bitter succession battle among the four women publicly recognized as his wives and at least 17 known children.

The holding firm, Lanceford Co., whose shareholders include Ho's third wife and five children from his second wife, said Ho — the chairman of SJM Holdings — had approved in writing the transfer of the bulk of his assets to the family.

Forbes last year estimated Ho's personal worth at $3.1 billion. According to the FT, analysts had interpreted Monday’s announcement as part of ongoing efforts to split Ho’s holdings between the family members, chiefly the three surviving women referred to as his wives and their respective children.

SJM shares were suspended on Tuesday after being partially suspended on Monday, prior to the announcement, Reuters reported. SJM closed down 4 percent on Monday after earlier falling as much as 9 percent after the share statement.