Lawrence Ho criticizes former partner James Packer over China marketing campaign

"In all of those instances [Crown and the arrests of the South Korean casino employees], you had casino sales people running around offering credit, talking about collection . . . it wasn't discreet," Mr Ho reportedly told the Financial Times.

"That's what caught their attention: 'like what the hell, you're deliberately spitting on our faces'."

A spokeswoman for Mr Ho confirmed to Fairfax Media that Mr Ho had made the "spitting in the face" comment, but said he had not singled out Crown.

"In Lawrence's answer to the media question, he was referring to 'all of those incidences' which caught the Chinese government's attention, and not finger-pointing at Crown as a particular case which 'spit on China's face'," she said.

"He generally commented on the attitude and practices that the overall industry should take in dealing with such business activities, which the government is 'okay with', as long as these activities are not done so indiscreetly to make the government feel the operators are 'spitting in their faces'."

She said Mr Ho gave the example to explain that casino operators "should respect China's policy".

"Nowhere in that answer did Lawrence say Crown was spitting on China's face," she said.

Despite the demerger, Melco and Crown were still "very friendly" and had a close relationship, she said.

Crown restructured its management in February after exiting Melco Crown Entertainment and selling off its 33.4 per cent stake in the Macau casino operator.

Mr Ho had been Melco Crown's chairman and chief executive. He is now focused on winning a Japanese casino licence.

Earlier this month, Mr Ho told CNBC television that he would be "lifelong friends with James" and the gaming partnership had been successful. It was ended because Mr Packer wanted to focus on Australia, he said.

Chinese police have finalised the investigation into the Crown employees, which include three Australians, and have referred the case to local prosecutors in Shanghai. Observers said this suggests the charges would be related to the promotion of gambling.

Mr Ho said that he had recommended some lawyers to Crown, but Melco was not involved in the case.