Macau gambling group Suncity's shares hit record low after chairman arrested (updated)

LET group

30/11/2021 01:52

(Adds details)
    HONG KONG, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Shares of Macau gambling group
Suncity Group Holdings Ltd  1383.HK  plunged to a record low in
resumed trade on Tuesday after its chairman was arrested over
alleged links to cross-border gambling and said he intended to
resign from the company. 
    Alvin Chau, who is also the founder of Suncity - a junket
operator that brings in high rollers to play at casinos,
extending them credit and collecting on their debts - was
arrested by Macau police on Sunday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SJ08Z  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SK01P
    Suncity's stock slid to a record low of HK$0.133, its lowest
since its listing in 2007. 
    On Friday authorities in Wenzhou, a city in eastern China,
issued an arrest warrant for Chau, accusing him of operating
gambling activities in mainland China where gambling is illegal.
    Part of the investigation involves Russia's Tigre de Cristal
resort which is close to China's northeast border and is
controlled by Hong Kong-listed Summit Ascent Holdings  0102.HK ,
of which Suncity is the controlling shareholder.
    Shares of Summit Ascent slid nearly 50%.
    Suncity said in a statement late on Monday that the
allegation that Tigre de Cristal was involved in cross-border
gaming by soliciting customers in mainland China was untrue.
    The company's operations would not be impacted in the event
that it ceased to have Chau's support, it added.
    Macau's prosecutor's office said in a statement on Monday
the group was also suspected to have used the world's largest
gambling hub as a base for an illegal "live web betting
platform" in the Philippines that attracted mainland Chinese. 
    Some analysts say Suncity accounts for roughly a quarter of
Macau's gambling revenue.  
     

 (Reporting by Eduardo Baptista and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing
by Christopher Cushing and Stephen Coates)
 ((annemarie.roantree@thomsonreuters.com; +852 97387151; Reuters
Messaging: annemarie.roantree.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))