Alvin Chau Cheok-wa, former chairman of Macau's biggest casino junket operator Suncity Group (1383), denied he was involved in illegal gambling and money laundering on the first day of his trial yesterday.
He and his syndicate face 289 charges, including illegal gambling activities, running a criminal syndicate, money laundering and fraud.
The total value of the illegal gambling syndicate's bets exceeded HK$824 billion, Macau media said. Chau's syndicate is accused of having swindled casino operators by hiding the revenue and the actual amount wagered, which affected casino revenue and government tax income.
Chau said he was aware of the existence of illegal gambling activities, but he was not involved in them, reports said.
He also denied charges of unlawful operation of a casino offering telephone and online betting services in the Philippines and Vietnam, saying that the businesses were sold in 2015 and he was not aware of any activities regarding promoting and recruiting customers in Macau afterward.
Chau also debunked he was using customers' assets in the mainland to repay illegal gambling debts, saying that the moves were legitimate, reports said.
The trial was set to start on September 2 but was adjourned to yesterday as more than half of the defendants were absent.
Chau was arrested by Macau police last November after the Chinese city of Wenzhou issued a warrant accusing Chau of operating gambling activities in the mainland.
Chau's Suncity was a major player in Macau until 2019 prior to the coronavirus pandemic, accounting for around 25 percent of total gaming revenues, industry executives said.
The junket industry has collapsed in the former Portuguese colony since Chau's arrest, with all Suncity's VIP rooms shuttered last December. Many others folded, hit by poor sentiment and a lack of business due to Covid-related travel restrictions.
Macau's government has tried to rein in junkets with a new law stipulating that casino operators no longer have dedicated junket rooms in casinos. Their influence is likely to be further diluted going forward, analysts said.
