A total of 35 defendants linked to former junket mogul Alvin Chau have pleaded guilty during trial for their involvement in a cross-border illegal gambling syndicate.
The trial of the defendants was handled by a court in Wenzhou which considered the syndicate to have “severely disrupted the social order and the mechanism in the market.”
According to a statement from Wenzhou’s intermediate court, the hearing concluded between last Wednesday and Friday.
The 35 defendants, who had developed over 60,000 agents to provide services for bettors in China, are slated to be sentenced in due course.
Over 60,000 gamblers were accommodated through the syndicate, and its agents received high commissions to organize cross-border gambling trips.
They have also promoted online gambling platforms set up in the Philippines, targeting Mainland players.
Back in March 2021, Beijing sanctioned an amendment to the national criminal law criminalizing anyone who “organizes [for] citizens of mainland China to participate in gambling outside the country (or border), which involves a hefty sum or cases with serious consequences.”
Through the new law, anyone who “organizes” gambling trips or activities for mainland citizens to Macau will be considered to be breaking the law. It stipulates that a person who commits this gambling offence will be subject to imprisonment of at least five years and up to 10 years.
Although the sentences for the 35 defendants have not been announced yet, the Wenzhou court stated that the group has also offered cross-border money exchange and settlement services for mainland gamblers through asset management firms.
The court, meanwhile, is handling Chau’s case separately.
An official indictment alleges that Chau’s senior executives at his Suncity Group ran a vast criminal syndicate that cheated Macau of about USD1 billion in tax revenue.
The 48-year-old was arrested in November and is facing over 200 charges on fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling. His trial is due to start September 2. LV
