Macau court sentences junket mogul to 18 years in jail - TVB (updated)

LET group

18/01/2023 03:57

(Adds details)
       HONG KONG, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A local court sentenced a
top Macau gambling boss to 18 years in prison after he was found
guilty of charges including enabling illegal gaming, Hong Kong
broadcaster TVB reported on Wednesday. 
    Alvin Chau was chairman of Macau's Suncity junket - which
brokered the gambling activity of Chinese high rollers - until
December 2021, a month after his arrest. 
    The sentence marks a dramatic turnaround for the
businessman, who was also found guilty of running a criminal
syndicate and money laundering, and who once presided over the
gambling hub's VIP industry. 
    Chau pleaded not guilty to the charges.
    Macau is the only city in China where citizens are permitted
to gamble in casinos. 
        Chau's lawyers had argued that he did not operate any
illegal gambling or commit money laundering and that his
business in the Philippines was permitted by local authorities
there. No one from Suncity Group had promoted gambling on the
mainland, his lawyers said.
    Junket operators help facilitate gambling for wealthy
Chinese in Macau, extending them credit and collecting on their
debt on behalf of casino operators. Marketing or soliciting
gambling in mainland China is illegal.
    Chau's Suncity was a major player in Macau until 2019,
before prior the coronavirus outbreak, accounting for about 25%
of total gaming revenues, industry executives said. 
    That year, Macau casinos generated $36 billion in revenue.
    The junket industry has collapsed in the former Portuguese
colony since Chau's arrest, with all of Suncity's VIP rooms 
shuttered. Many other operators folded, hurt by poor sentiment
and a lack of business due to COVID-19 related travel
restrictions.
 (Reporting by Farah Master and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong and Gerry Doyle)
 ((annemarie.roantree@thomsonreuters.com; +852 97387151; Reuters
Messaging: annemarie.roantree.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))