Alvin Chau

Alvin Chau, one of Macau's high-profile gambling promoters, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for racketeering and illegal gambling activities, ...

But its casinos bled hundreds of millions of dollars a month during the Gambling is the lifeblood of the former Portuguese colony, which depends on millions of tourists from mainland China to support its economy. Chau, 48, was the former chairman of Suncity Group, a Macao-based company that helped promote gambling by lending credit to high rollers. [tougher stance](https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/29/investing/macao-casinos-arrests/index.html) on gambling in Macao by the Beijing authorities. Macao is the only region in China where gambling in casinos is legal. [Alvin Chau](https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/29/investing/macao-casinos-arrests/index.html), one of [Macao’s](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/insider-guide-macau/index.html) high-profile gambling promoters, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for racketeering and illegal gambling activities, the city’s public broadcaster TDM [reported Wednesday](https://www.tdm.com.mo/zh-hant/news-detail/793225?isvideo=false&lang=zh-hant&category=all).

Macau's ex-junket king Alvin Chau, who once had branded Suncity high-roller rooms at Crown in Melbourne and Star in Sydney, has been found guilty of charges ...

The rise and fall of Chau tracks Beijing’s tightening grip on what was once the world’s biggest gambling hub. He was formerly associated with notorious Macau triad boss, “Broken Tooth” Wan Kuok-koi, according to an Australian state government inquiry into Crown Resorts in 2020, reported by this masthead. After decades of easy profit and a reputation for helping China’s richest funnel money overseas, junkets have faced a hard crackdown. Since 2013, Chau’s group had handled almost $HK824 billion ($149 billion) in such parallel gambling money, making an illegal profit of $HK21.5 billion, according to prosecutors. The focus of authorities’ investigation centred around “under-the-table” betting, a system in which gamblers wagered multiples of what they officially bet via a shadow banking system established by Chau’s group. There was insufficient evidence to prove allegations of money laundering, it said.

The founder of Macau's once-biggest casino junket organiser, who was banned from entering Australia, is sentenced to 18 years in jail and ordered to pay ...

Macau prosecutors accused Chau and some co-defendants of running a syndicate that caused a loss of about $1 billion in tax revenue to the city's government between 2013 and 2021. - Prosecutors accused Alvin Chau of running a syndicate that caused a loss of about $1.4 billion in tax revenue to the government - The billionaire previously made huge investments in Australian casinos until he was denied a travel visa to Australia in 2019

A Macau court has sentenced a top gambling boss to 18 years in prison after he was found guilty of 162 charges.

Many other operators folded, hurt by poor sentiment and a lack of business due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions. Marketing or soliciting gambling in mainland China is illegal. No one from Suncity Group had promoted gambling on the mainland, his lawyers said.

The UNODC alleges that Alvin Chau was a billionaire linked to drug running and money laundering for years. Colleagues in the online gambling world are now said ...

Many other operators folded, hurt by poor sentiment and lack of business due to Covid travel restrictions. No one from Suncity Group had promoted gambling on the mainland, his lawyers said. Suncity claimed it did not operate any online gaming at the time. Marketing or soliciting gambling in mainland China is illegal. [Thailand](https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2482292/house-paves-way-for-first-thai-casino) and [Singapore](https://www.casino-review.co/singapore-government-marina-sentosa/) are considering opening or extending legal casino operations. [Macau Gambling Group Suncity’s Shares Soar Under New Boss](https://www.asiafinancial.com/macau-gambling-group-suncitys-shares-soar-under-new-boss) [casino sector slumped](https://www.asiafinancial.com/china-casino-and-tech-stocks-fall-further-as-crackdowns-bite-deeper) in Macau after Chau’s arrest, with all of Suncity’s VIP rooms shuttered. [linked to major drug traffickers and money laundering](https://www.asiafinancial.com/crime-gangs-control-some-myanmar-laos-economic-zones-un) for many years. [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime](https://www.unodc.org) in Bangkok, said in 2021 that Chau’s arrest sent shockwaves through organised crime in Hong Kong, Macau, as well as Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines. [China’s 2022 Growth of 3% Among the Worst in 50 Years](https://www.asiafinancial.com/chinas-2022-growth-of-3-among-the-worst-in-50-years) [Suncity](http://www.suncitygroupholdings.com/) junket operator, which brokered the gambling activity of Chinese high rollers, until shortly after he was [arrested in November 2021](https://www.asiafinancial.com/chinese-city-seeks-arrest-of-macau-junket-king-alvin-chau). Chau’s syndicate was said to made billions from the parallel gambling set-up from 2013 to 2021 and accused of cheating the Macau government out of $1.05 billion in revenue during that period, according to

A report by the news agency AFP on Wednesday said that prosecutors charged Chau with 289 counts of fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling. Judge Lou Ieng ...

A report by the news agency AFP on Wednesday said that prosecutors charged Chau with 289 counts of fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling. A report by the news agency Reuters on Wednesday said that tax revenues from Macau's casinos account for over 80% of government income. In her ruling, Judge Ha said that under Chau's leadership, the Suncity Group conducted illegal gambling for unlawful gains for a long time, the report added.

He was charged by the Public Prosecutor's Office with criminal association, 229 counts of illegal gambling in a licensed premises, 54 counts of substantial ...

Therefore, they were found guilty of the triad offence of [running a] criminal syndicate.” Alvin Chau promoted illegal betting activities in Macau without the approval of the Macau government.” They are also required to pay compensation to five concessionaires: Wynn Macau, Galaxy Entertainment Group, MGM China, Sands China and SJM Resorts. Not guilty I will communicate with my client and advise them to appeal.” There were 21 defendants in the case, of which 13 were convicted and four suspended.

The 48-year-old pioneered the junket industry that brought high rollers from mainland China to the city. Read more at straitstimes.com.

After the arrests, Suncity shut down all its VIP rooms, and a number of casino operators followed suit, some also citing Covid-19-related business pressures. “The casinos themselves can’t afford to take the risk of being held jointly liable with the junkets for their misdemeanours.” AFP “I don’t know why (Suncity) is deemed a criminal syndicate,” he said, according to local media. “My colleagues have not seen a cent of criminal proceeds up until now... In September, a court in Wenzhou convicted 36 people related to Chau and Suncity based on allegations that partly overlapped with the Macau case. Chau was widely known for his extramarital affair with Malaysian-American model-actress Mandy Lieu.

Alvin Chau, former boss of Macau junket Suncity, sentenced to 18 years in prison for fraud, illegal gambling, and criminal association.

The defendants were accused of handling the equivalent of almost US$100 billion in illegal wagers from under-the-table betting between 2013 and 2021. Chau’s efforts to “legitimize” the junket industry were ultimately in vain. That’s down 85% compared to the sector’s 2013-2014 heyday. Nevertheless, Chau was tried in Macau, whose government and judiciary is autonomous from Beijing. Chau denied the charges. In 2014 that would have equated to US$11 billion.