Hope for the release of the 17 employees of Crown Resorts has faded after Chinese authorities formally arrested them for alleged gambling-related crimes.

Australia Financial Review reported that the 17 of the 18 employees, including three Australians led by Crown Resort’s international VIP program head Jason O’Connor, arrested last October may spend the next six months behind bars after Chinese authorities have formally filed the charges.

Jenny Jiang was the lone arrested Crown employee who was allowed to post bail on November 10 and was released from prison on the same day.

It remains a puzzle though what charges have been lodged against the 17 employees since authorities remain mum on the case. Earlier reports said that they were detained for “gambling related crimes” after a series of overnight raids in at least four cities across China on October 13th and 14th.