Alvin Chau sentence unchanged after appeal, money laundering conviction added

With an additional conviction for aggravated money laundering, former SunCity boss Alvin Chau’s sentence remains at 18 years’ imprisonment after his appeal.

The Court of Second Instance has ruled that the appeal of the former head of the now-rebranded junket was “partially upheld.”

Seven co-defendants also had their appeals partially upheld, while two other defendants’ appeals were completely dismissed.

Chau and seven co-defendants had their conviction and sentences upheld for the charge of involvement in a triad gang. Another defendant had the same result for the charge of participating or supporting a triad gang, but the details of the charge were adjusted.

Chau and co-defendant Wong Pak Ling received sentences of eight and six year sentences, respectively, for aggravated money laundering. Defendant Cheung Ning Ning received five years for money laundering.

The middle court has revoked orders of compensation for swindling because it found no evidence of such activity. The base court had convicted Chau and six co-defendants of swindling through parallel betting, which consequently generated losses for the government and the licensed casino operators.

Chau was also accused of making HKD17.66 billion and HKD7.2 billion from parallel betting as well as telephone and online betting. He and two co-defendants had made about HKD616.97 million and RMB17 million in profit from money laundering.

As such, the middle court has also ruled that Chau and eight co-defendants must pay the government, jointly and severally, for the aforementioned amounts. The management of the parallel betting companies held by Chau should also compensate the government for proceeds of parallel betting, jointly and severally.

The court also retained the measures imposed on Chau, namely providing an amount of security of not less than HKD$6.5 billion and preventive seizure of the bank accounts and real estate owned by Chau and Sawalana Limited in London, United Kingdom.

Suncity was once Macau’s largest junket, with various businesses across the retail, catering, film and concert production industry, as well as tourism. It has been renamed as LET Group and now focuses on developing resorts and malls around the world.