Macau casino magnate Alvin Chau was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Macau court on Wednesday for running an illegal gambling empire.
The 48-year-old founder of Macau’s biggest junket was found guilty of fraud, leading a criminal group and organizing illegal gambling. He was acquitted of money laundering charges.
A “junket” is an intermediary that facilitates the arrival of players in Macau casinos by serving them both as a tour operator and as a lender.
Mr. Chau founded Suncity Group, Macau’s largest leisure travel operator, which has successfully attracted punters from mainland China.
This former Portuguese colony is the only place in the country where casinos are allowed.
In twenty years, Macau has seen its GDP explode and twenty years later, its casinos brought in as much in a week as Las Vegas in a month.
The fall of Mr. Chau, 48, coincides with the anti-corruption campaign led by Chinese President Xi Jinping for years. Beijing fighting in particular against money laundering via casinos.
He faced 289 counts of fraud, money laundering and illegal betting.
On Wednesday, Judge Lou Ieng Ha found the ex-tycoon guilty of fraud, running a crime syndicate and operating illegal bets. He was acquitted of the money laundering charge.
Under his leadership, Suncity “conducted illegal betting for illegal gains for a long period of time,” it said in its judgment, and sentenced him to 18 years in prison.
The trial of the casino magnate had started in September on the basis of illegal bets estimated at 824 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 98 billion euros).
These hidden bets spread over eight years would have allowed the former Portuguese colony to embezzle more than 1 billion Hong Kong dollars in tax revenue.
In total, prosecutors brought 289 charges against Alvin Chau, who was on trial alongside 20 other defendants.
The “king of the junket” was also accused of having helped Chinese customers to bet by proxy in casinos in Southeast Asia.
In December before the court, Alvin Chau had defended himself from any illegal activity, ensuring that he did not know why Suncity was considered a criminal syndicate.
He was arrested in November 2021 by Macau authorities, two days after Beijing issued an arrest warrant for him.