Macau’s ex-junket king Alvin Chau was sentenced to 18 years in prison in the gaming hub after being found guilty of charges including criminal association, capping the downfall of the flamboyant former industry tycoon.
(Bloomberg) — Macau’s ex-junket king Alvin Chau was sentenced to 18 years in prison in the gaming hub after being found guilty of charges including criminal association, capping the downfall of the flamboyant former industry tycoon.
Chau was found guilty of criminal association, illicit gambling and fraud, local media outlet GGR Asia reported, citing a judgment issued by a Macau court on Wednesday. There was insufficient evidence to prove allegations of money laundering, it said.
The former chairman of Suncity Group controlled what was once Macau’s largest junket operator — a lucrative industry that brought in high rollers from mainland China and extended credit to them — before being arrested in November 2021 for conducting illegal gaming activities. The focus of authorities’ investigation centered 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.
Since 2013, Chau’s group had handled almost HK$824 billion ($105 billion) in such parallel gambling money, making an illegal profit of HK$21.5 billion, according to prosecutors.
Read more: High-Roller Crackdown Leaves World’s Biggest Gaming Hub on Brink
The rise and fall of Chau tracks Beijing’s tightening grip on what was once the world’s biggest gambling hub. After decades of easy profit and a reputation for helping China’s richest funnel money overseas, junkets have faced a hard crackdown. They’ve arrested junket bosses and passed a new gaming law to increase oversight on casinos in an effort to stop capital flight and accelerate the enclave’s integration into the gambling-free Chinese economy.
Macau’s casino industry has also been hammered by strict Covid rules that kept many Chinese visitors away. Tourists are only recently returning to Macau after China abandoned its Covid Zero policy and opened up, yet the crackdown on VIP gamblers and the country’s slowing economy means travelers are spending less, adding uncertainty to the casino industry’s outlook.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.