In exchange, Sun would pocket $2,000 to $3,000 in tips from the player, her lawyers wrote. Employees of the casino told her, in substance, that they had no expectation she would be responsible for those debts.

Yang was offered a similar arrangement in 2011 by another Palazzo host, the lawyers said.

The women continued the arrangement for years, obtaining millions of dollars in chips for high-stakes baccarat players such as one identified by their attorneys as WeiDang Wang. In two days in January 2012, the restaurant owner from Shenyang, China, lost around $2 million after Sun signed for his credit.

Reuters was unable to locate Wang. The Sands’ Reese said most of the players named by the women were known gamblers at the casino, but declined to comment further.

For years, as players lost millions in Sun’s and Yang’s names, all was good. The wealthy players apparently repaid those debts once home in China, the defense attorneys said. The women never made payments themselves, and the Venetian and Palazzo never asked, they said.

But during 2012, Sun and Yang’s relationship with the casino changed, their attorneys said, after the players for whom the women signed credit stopped paying the casino back.