Unofficial Betting Activities Worth $920 Million Conducted by Suncity, Alleges Macau Law Enforcement to Judge
Updated on: November 14, 2022, 10:20am.
Philip Conneller
Philip Conneller, an expert in Gaming Business, Regulation, and Tribal Gaming, sheds light on a revelation made by Macau's Judiciary Police, pointing to Suncity's alleged involvement in US$920 million worth of illicit proxy bets between 2017 and 2020.
@casinoorgphilc
The Unfolding Allegations
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The police's assertion comes as former Suncity boss Alvin Chau and 20 other defendants are on trial for illegal gambling, criminal association, fraud, and money laundering charges. Chau, once a powerful figure in Macau's gambling industry, has refuted all allegations.
Gaming Business,
Proxy betting is a widely popular practice among gamblers in China, as the country strictly prohibits gambling, and Suncity's operations in this regard have been a subject of controversy.
Regulation,
The Role of Underground Banking Channels
Tribal Gaming.
Ho Ka Weng, an investigator for Macau's Judiciary Police, testified that Suncity facilitated cross-border capital transfers valued at approximately US$165 million using illicit underground banking channels for proxy betting. This was to circumvent the strict Chinese laws against gambling and moving cash out of the mainland.
The Suncity-UE Group Connection
During the trial, Chau admitted Suncity's past involvement in proxy betting but claimed he had transferred the operation to UE Group, a firm managed by Chinese-Malaysian junket operator Yong Seng Chen. The purported shift, however, is contested by the Judiciary Police who presented evidence suggesting that Suncity retained a 50% stake in the operation.
The $1B Tax Evasion Allegation
telling a Macau court his company got out of the proxy business when the enclave’s government issued a guideline to ban it in 2016. It was officially outlawed in 2018.
Chau and Suncity are also implicated in allegations of evading US$1 billion in gaming taxes through illegal side-betting operations between 2013 and 2021. These operations allowed VIP clients to multiply their stakes, which were then settled tax-free later on.
Yong was arrested in 2014 in Las Vegas and pleaded guilty to operating an illegal World Cup betting operation out of a luxury villa at Caesars Palace.
The Suncity Project Debt Connection
illegal side-betting operations.
Last week, PJ investigator Lei Siu Ieng testified that records from Suncity's servers showed that 17 of Suncity's development projects were linked to the repayment of under-the-table betting debts.
The trial is set to conclude with final arguments on November 21.
Additional Insights
The ongoing allegations against Suncity and its former boss, Alvin Chau, potentially portray a severe blow to the Macau gaming industry, which could face stricter regulatory oversight to prevent such practices in the future.
Understanding the financial, legal, and reputational implications for Suncity and the Macau gambling sector would require further investigation and official statements from the judiciary police.
- The news article featuring Philip Conneller's analysis was published with the URL: https://www.casino.org/news/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops/, which can be accessed via the 'href' link under his name in the panel__author.
- The court testimonies revealed that Suncity used PNG images as evidence during the trial, suggesting the use of digital technology in their illicit proxy betting operations.
- In response to the allegations, Suncity enclave has issued a statement denying any involvement in illegal activities, aiming to mitigate the negative publicity and potential financial implications.