Macau gambling boss denies illegal gambling, criminal syndicate allegations

LET group

19/09/2022 13:21

Sept 19 - A well-known Macau gambling boss in China's
special administrative region of Macau denied charges including
enabling illegal gaming, running a criminal syndicate and money
laundering at the start of his trial on Monday.    
    Alvin Chau was chairman of Macau's Suncity junket - which
brokers the gambling activity of Chinese high rollers - until
December 2021, a month after his arrest on a warrant from the
eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou accusing him of operating
illegal gambling activities on the Chinese mainland. 
    Macau is the only city in China where citizens are legally
permitted to gamble in casinos. 
    Chau told Macau's primary court that he did not operate any
illegal gambling or commit money laundering, according to public
broadcaster TDM. He said his business in the Philippines was
also permitted by local authorities there, TDM reported.
    Junkets are middlemen who 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 said no one from Suncity Group had promoted gambling on
the mainland.
    Chau's Suncity was a major player in Macau until 2019, prior
to the coronavirus outbreak, accounting for around 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 last December. Many others folded, hit by poor
sentiment and a lack of business due to COVID-19 related travel
restrictions.
    Macau's number two junket boss Levo Chan, who headed Tak
Chun, was arrested by Macau police in January on suspicion of
criminal organisation, illegal gambling and money laundering.
    Both men remain in Macau prison, a far cry from the jewelled
opulence of the VIP parlours they once presided over.

 (Reporting by Farah Master
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
 ((farah.master@thomsonreuters.com; +852 3462 7709;))