Alvin Chau to face charges of creating and heading a criminal organisation

The former head of Suncity junket has already been officially indicted by the Public Prosecution Office for charges of founding and heading a ‘secret association or society’, illicit exploitation of gambling and money laundering, TDM Radio reported.

Chau was arrested by local police authorities on November 27, 2021 together with 21 other people, all of which have been indicted and notified by the MP of similar criminal charges.

Under the Macau Organized Crime Law, a secret association or society is an organization established to obtain illicit advantages or benefits and whose existence is demonstrated by an agreement to commit several criminal offences.

Whoever performs the roles of direction or leadership, to any degree, of a secret association or society could be punished with a penalty of 8 to 15 years’ imprisonment.

In November 2021 the then CEO of junket operator Suncity and leading figure in its Hong Kong-listed arm, Suncity Group Holdings Ltd, was detained by Macau police authorities following an arrest warrant issued by authorities in Mainland China’s Wenzhou city over alleged cross-border gambling activities.

Some of the other 10 suspects in the case, either Macau or Hong Kong residents, were said to be senior executives of Suncity.

Wenzhou authorities accused Chau of leading a cross-border gambling syndicate to organise trips for Mainland Chinese citizens to gamble at casinos run by his firms outside of the mainland by providing credits, transportation services and tech support for the gamblers.

The Macau PJ later said that based on intelligence collection in August 2019 it had learned that a criminal group headed by Chau set up overseas gambling platforms leveraging his junket operations in Macau and invited Mainland Chinese residents to engage in illegal online gambling activities, Chong indicated.

The illicit profits gained by the crime syndicate were covered and transferred through the accounts of Chau’s junket operation, underground banking and other illegal channels, he continued.

Chau and four other people detained were later placed under pre-trial detention at the Coloane prison. Suncity shortly closed all its VIP rooms and filed for dissolution

Following his arrest, Chau announced he would step down as Suncity and Summit Ascent chairman, with Suncity Group Executive Director, Andrew Lo Kai Bong, has now taken control of both Suncity Group and Summit Ascent, while Chau disposed of its share stakes in the companies.