Chau sentenced to 18 years
Alvin Chau, a gambling tycoon in Macau, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He was found guilty on more than a hundred charges. Which included those of organized crime and illicit gaming.
The 48-year-unlawful old’s bets totaled more than HK$823.7bn (£85.7bn; $105bn), which led to his conviction.
A prominent and colorful personality in the local casino industry, Chau, has refuted the allegations.
Only in Macau, a former Portuguese territory, are casinos officially sanctioned.
Chau started Suncity Group and served as its chairman. They were the largest provider of junkets, or escorted casino visits, in Macau.
It loaned mainland Chinese high rollers money to visit Macau’s casinos. It was also in charge of debt collection for casinos and running VIP lounges in all of Macau’s gaming establishments.
In December 2021, the “Junket King,” a businessman, resigned after being arrested.
Chau was charged by prosecutors with founding and running a criminal organization that helped cover up illegal wagers. They estimated that the government lost about HK$8.26 billion in tax revenue as a direct result of this.
The court sided with the prosecution on most counts but found Chau not guilty of money laundering. Twenty more defendants are involved in the high-profile case.
Both the coronavirus ban and the Chinese government’s crackdown on transferring money offshore have wreaked havoc on the gaming business.
After Chau Being Sentenced to 18 Years
A court in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou sentenced more than 30 persons in September for cross-border gambling in connection with the case involving Chau.
After Chau’s arrest, Suncity locked down all of its VIP rooms. While this was happening, the number of junkets visiting Macau had already been falling for some time. From a high of 100 in 2019, only 36 junket operators are surviving.
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Chau, a popular personality in the Chinese-speaking world noted for his slicked-back hair and bronzed skin, has been the subject of many tabloid articles about his romantic relationships.
The local press gave him the nickname “Washing Rice Wa,” which is based on a sitcom character but is also a euphemism for money laundering.
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