Macau’s Court of Final Appeal has handed down its final judgement in the case of former Tak Chun Group CEO Levo Chan, ruling that his 13-year prison sentence be upheld but the fine levied against hinm be reduced to HK$1.8 billion (US$225 million).
The Court of First Instance originally sentenced Chan on 21 April 2023 to 14 years in prison. Together with four other defendants in the case, they were also ordered to pay compensation of approximately HK$200 million (US$25 million) to five of Macau’s concessionaires in whose VIP rooms Tak Chun was found to have engaged in “betting under the table” activities.
Chan appealed to Macau’s Court of Second Instance and on 12 January 2024 had his sentence reduced to 13 years. However, the court significantly increased the amount of compensation to HK$2.5 billion – all payable to the Macau SAR rather than the concessionaires. Both Chan and the Public Prosecutions Office subsequently appealed this verdict.
On Thursday, the Court of Final Appeal ruled against both the Public Prosecutions Office on part of the appeal and Chan in regard to the judgement in the criminal case, upholding his 13-year prison sentence but reduced the amount of compensation owed by HK$700 million (US$87.5 million), leaving Chan and some of the defendants with HK$1.8 billion to pay to the SAR government.
Chan was arrested by Macau’s Judiciary Police in January 2022 and charged with illegal gaming, triad society and large sums of financial fraud. He was detained in Coloane Prison and in August of that year, the Public Prosecutions Office formally indicted Chan and eight other people involved in the case.
He was ultimately found guilty on all counts in 2023, specifically on 24 counts of illegal gambling in a licensed area, seven counts of substantial fraud, one count of illegal gambling and one count of aggravated money laundering.
