Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) says it has detained two men linked to a VIP Club who failed to return more than HK$27 million (US$3.4 million) in deposits to customers late last year.
According to information released this week, the PJ received reports from 18 people on 29 September 2021 that they had been unable to withdraw their deposits from the VIP Club, which had been operating without a legal gaming promoter license. It is alleged that three men were essentially running the club privately, although neither the name of the club nor its location have been released.
The PJ said in total around HK$280 million (US$35.7 million) was deposited with the promise of a monthly interest rate of 1%, however the men used the money for the operation of the VIP Club and for their own purposes.
After receiving complaints about the operation, the PJ searched the offices involved and seized a large number of documents, computers, mobile phones and cash and chips exceeding HK$600,000.
Two of the three men involved were arrested on 29 March 2022 and charged with running a criminal syndicate and fraud.
The case was revealed just a day before Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced on Thursday some details of a new Bill governing the operations of junkets. Under the Bill, junkets will be restricted to working with a single concessionaire while all contracts between junkets and operators will need to be approved by the DICJ.
Other instances of junket theft have been in the news recently, with the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) ruling in November that Wynn Macau Ltd and junket promoter Dore Entertainment Co Ltd were jointly liable for repayment of a HK$6 million (US$770,000) debt owed to a VIP customer. The case was linked to the high-profile theft of up to HK$700 million (US$90 million) from Dore’s VIP room at Wynn Macau in 2015.
High profile junkets Suncity Group and Tak Chun Group have both ceased operations in recent months as part of a crackdown by Macau authorities that has seen Suncity CEO Alvin Chau and Tak Chun’s Levo Chan both arrested and detained.
