China court: Suncity typical cross-border gambling case

China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has labeled Alvin Chau and Suncity Group a “typical case of cross-border gambling.”

According to the SPC, Chau’s 34-strong syndicate had a “clear hierarchy” and had been facilitating mainland Chinese citizens in traveling to Macau for gambling or engaging in online gambling through agents since 2007.

The syndicate reportedly established asset management companies on the mainland to assist in exchanging gambling credit or chips and recovering gambling debts, while also using underground money transfer services to channel funds.

Chau and two other defendants were found to have obtained at least HKD617 million and RMB17 million in profits from a money laundering operation.

“The cross-boder gambling syndicate implemented corporatization and professional operations, establishing a clear internal hierarchy and detailed division of labor while recruiting numerous gamblers,” as stated by the SPC.

“Collaborating with underground banks on the mainland, these syndicates led to a significant outflow of capital from the mainland, presenting a serious threat to society. […] The case encompassed a substantial number of participants, a vast sum of money, and had negative repercussions on society,” the court added.

SPC remarked that the it has imposed severe penalties on the principal and key members of the multinational gambling syndicate, effectively leveraging the deterrent impact of these punishments.

The syndicate employed over 480 agents at the shareholder level, with 280 being Chinese nationals. The group’s membership reached 60,000, with over RMB8.9 billion won from them.

Recently, Macau’s Court of Final Appeal has increased the total compensation the group must pay to the Macau government to HKD25 billion, up from the original HKD8.6 billion ordered in the previous ruling.

The city’s court upheld an 18-year prison sentence for former Suncity Group CEO Alvin Chau, while tripling the amount of compensation he and other convicted Suncity employees must pay for money laundering offenses.

The court found Suncity had earned HKD17.66 billion from its “betting under the table” activities and another HKD7.21 billion from online betting.

The fate of Chau’s real estate portfolio, which includes 34 properties and parking spaces valued at MOP600 million, remains uncertain as the court continues its efforts to sell the assets.

Earlier this month, Suncity Group took to Facebook to reflect on its past contributions to Macau amid the ongoing legal challenges facing its former executives. Victoria Chan