In 2021, the gambling industry was in shock after the arrest of Alvin Chau, the former chairman of Suncity Group. The charges against him by Chinese authority was for running an illegal cross-border gambling syndicate. Today, a Macau court made its final verdict on the case for him and his other associates. The result, Alvin Chau, the Macau Junket King Gets 18 Years in Jail.
According to Online Casino websites, the sentence was read out by the presiding judge, Lou Ieng Ha. In addition, the sentencing of 12 other defendants in the case also took place. 8 of them got a prison term ranging from 9-15 years while 4 got suspended sentences. Furthermore, 8 other defendants were acquitted of all charges.
Amongst those defendants, Philip Wong Pak Ling, the former head of Suncity Group’s finance department got 16 years in jail. Other defendants who got 15 years in jail include Cheon Chi Kin, Tim Chau Chu Hee and Ali Celestino.
Alvin Chau, the Macau Junket King Gets 18 Years in Jail
According to online gambling news, Chau was found guilty of 136 charges out of 289 charges against him. Some of the charges he was facing include illicit gaming, criminal association, embezzlement and money laundering. However, out of all of these charges he was found not guilty for money laundering.
According to Macau prosecutors, as a result of Chau’s illegal activities, the government lost about $1 billion in tax revenue. This is because between 2013 and 2021, Chau was facilitating undeclared bets in the form of multipliers. Basically, these gaming multipliers would multiply the worth of the actual bet. Since they were done as private side bets, not tax reports made on those.
In addition to the jail sentence, Chau and 6 other defendants will have to pay over $1.1 billion in restitution. The money will be paid to the Macau government and a number of the city’s casino operators. These include Wynn Macau Ltd, MGM China Holdings Ltd, SJM Holdings Ltd, Sands China Ltd, and Galaxy Entertainment Group. This is because they are claiming civil damage for losses allegedly arising from under-the-table betting linked to Suncity Group.
For the Junket King and the other defendants, they are able to appeal to the Court of Second Instance. However, it must be done within 20 days.
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