China’s national TV broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), reported Monday that online gaming sites allegedly operate by former Macau-based junket Suncity Group generated turnover of RMB 300 billion (US$42 billion) from mainland Chinese gamblers between 2015 and 2019. Suncity and its CEO, Alvin Chau, profited to the tune of RMB 8.7 billion (US$1.22 billion), it added.
The update was provided after the court case of Chau, which saw him sentenced to 18 years in prison last January, was named by CCTV as one of China’s “Top 10 Cases of 2023” based on a survey conducted in December, having attracted 2,059,003 votes.
Revisiting certain details of the case, CCTV noted that the judge in the initial trial at Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court’s – which saw a number of former Suncity employees face charges – had stated during sentencing that Chau established Suncity in Macau, and that the company’s internal departments included the Finance Department, Accounting Department, IT Department and Customer Service Department among others.
The judge had also named Cheung Ling Ling as the director of the asset management company set up by Chau in mainland, based on details found in Suncity’s internal address book.
In this trial, CCTV recalled, the judge said Chau had established VIP rooms in Macau casinos and other places, and in 2015 he begun developing a number of online gambling platforms in the Philippines and elsewhere to carry out gambling activities.
“In order to make huge profits, he introduced other people to act as agents on the basis of commissions and dividends, and through these agents he recruited Chinese nationals in the mainland to go to Suncity’s VIP rooms to participate in gambling or internet gambling,” the TV station recounted.
It also referred to comments from the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court judge in relation to Suncity agents, in which he stated, “Each agent, if he or she took an equity stake in Suncity, was required to take an equity stake of HK$5 million (US$640,000), and was also required to fulfill a monthly target of HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) in terms of the amount of rolling. Alvin Chau recruited a total of 283 agents who were Chinese nationals.”
According to data seized by mainland authorities, CCTV said, bets placed by mainland gamblers using online platforms alleged to be controlled by Suncity between 2015 and 2019 amounted to more than RMB 300 billion, with Chau and Suncity were alleged to have profited to the amount of more than RMB 8.7 billion.
In issuing its verdict on 20 September 2022, the Wenzhou Court ruled that Cheung was the person in charge of the asset management company set up by Chau, and sentenced Cheung and other defendants to between 15 months’ imprisonment and seven years and six months’ imprisonment.
As acknowledged by CCTV, Chau himself faced trial in Macau where in January 2023 he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for alleged criminal association, illegal gambling and money laundering. On 20 October 2023, the Macau Court of Intermediate Appeal upheld this sentence while tripling the damages he and other defendants owed to the Macau SAR Government to HK$25 billion.
Likewise, the Court of Final Appeal in December rejected an application for a writ of habeas corpus – protection against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment – filed by some defendants and extended their sentences.
Chau and some defendants have appealed separately to the Court of Final Appeal and are currently awaiting a final judgement.
