The trial of Suncity Group founder Alvin Chau has been scheduled by the Court of First Instance to commence at 2:45pm on Friday 2 September. However, the case may be postponed due to an absence of related defendants.
The trial court will be the second listed court of the Court of First Instance. According to the information released by the Court of First Instance, the first defendant (Alvin Chau) is represented by attorney Kuong Kuok On, but it is understood that there are multiple lawyer’s on Chau’s team. Case information previously released publicly shows that Leung Wing Ben is also a lawyer representing Chau.
IAG legal sources say the trial is likely to be delayed, mainly because of the number of related defendants now in the mainland.
The indictment includes a total of 21 defendants in the course, at least five of which are not in Macau, including some who are being held in mainland prisons. These include Zhang Ningning, who plead guilty to the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in China and is currently being held in Wenzhou. She is listed in the Macau case indictment as the ninth suspect.
Trials in Macau are often postponed due to the absence of the defendants. For example, only 10 of the 26 defendants were present in the 2020 corruption case of former Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) chairman Cheong Chou Weng, which was postponed twice by the Court of the First Instance. The delays totaled nearly two months.
However, if defendants provide reasonable excuses for their absence, the court can decide to commence proceedings in absentia.
According to the indictment, there are 92 witnesses set to appear for the prosecution, including 14 police officers. The remainder are mostly Suncity former employees.
After his arrest in November 2021, Chau was charged with illegal gambling, being part of a criminal syndicate, money laundering and fraud, with the amount involved in illegal gambling said to exceed HK$800 billion.
The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in China announced in early August it had opened a trial in relation to three cases of a cross-border gambling by a syndicate led by Alvin Chau. Zhang Ningning and 35 defendants plead guilty in court, with the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court yet to decide on the date of sentencing.
After Chau was arrested, the Suncity Group terminated its junket business on 1 December. Alvin Chau then resigned as chairman. The Suncity entity listed in Hong Kong announced in July this year it had changed its name to LET Group.
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