Suncity shares slide further after Macau gaming rooms shut (updated)

LET group

02/12/2021 03:04

(Recasts and writes through)
    HONG KONG, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Shares in Macau's Suncity Group
Holdings Ltd  1383.HK  tumbled in resumed trade on Thursday
after gaming rooms linked to the  group were shut following the
arrest of its former CEO and chairman, Alvin Chau.
    Chau, also the founder of Macau's biggest junket operator 
which brings in high rollers to play at casinos, was arrested
with 10 others on Sunday over alleged links to cross-border
gambling and money laundering.
    In a statement released late on Wednesday, Suncity said that
gaming rooms operated by a business wholly owned by Chau had
closed as of Dec. 1. It also confirmed that Chau had resigned
from all positions at Suncity Group but did not announce a new
CEO or chairman.
    Suncity Group's stock was down 10% in Thursday morning
trade, albeit off a record low marked earlier in the day, after
being suspended on Wednesday. The shares have now halved in
value since Chau's arrest.
    Macau authorities have accused Chau and 10 others of using
the former Portuguese colony as a base for an illegal "live web
betting platform" in the Philippines that attracted mainland
Chinese gamblers.
    A warrant for Chau's arrest has also been issued by the
mainland Chinese city of Wenzhou, accusing him of forming a
junket agent network that helps citizens engage in gambling
activities and setting up a company that helps gamblers make
cross-border fund transfers.
    Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said in a
late Wednesday statement it would not comment on recent gambling
crime cases as they have entered judicial proceedings.
    It added it will supervise Macau's gaming industry in
accordance with the law.

 (Reporting by Donny Kwok and Marius Zaharia; Editing by Edwina
Gibbs)
 ((marius.zaharia@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6358;))