Court separates criminal charges from compensation claims to accelerate process
The court has decided to separate the criminal charges that are pending in respect of the former junket and entertainment mogul, Alvin Chau, from the compensation claims filed by the government as well as four gaming concessionaires, who are also part of the multiple-defendant cases.
This news came through a report of TDM Radio, which had access to a court notification sent to the Public Prosecutions Office and the lawyers last Friday.
In the document, the judges noted that the decision was intended “to prevent the civil part of this process from delaying the criminal part (we can predict that the civil compensation claim will seriously delay the process),” adding also that taking into consideration the advantages and disadvantages of such an act, the court decided to separate the compensation claims from criminal charges, noting also the fact that, concurrently, the court is handling the trial of the former directors of the former Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Jaime Carion and Li Canfeng, which also requires significant resources from the court.
The same judges also noted that, in the case that involves Chau and another 20 defendants, “seven of them are awaiting trial in prison” while the case involves over 100 witnesses and a very large quantity of documents and evidence.
Similarly, in the case of the former directors of the DSSOPT, there are also 21 defendants, of which three are awaiting trial in prison, and the case has a similar number of witnesses and a large volume of documents and evidence.
The court also noted that the periods of preventive custody being undergone by some of the main defendants in both cases are similar.
The government, as well as Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A., SJM Resorts, S.A., MGM Grand Paradise, S.A., and Venetian Macao, S.A., have filed civil claims against the defendants. The four casino operators respectively seek MOP795 million, HKD178 million, an amount to be determined, and HKD300 million from all or some of the defendants.
In the same notification letter, the court also noted that the compensation claims from Wynn, SJM, Venetian, and MGM, as well as those sought by the government, can be pursued through unofficial compensation, calling on the appellants to manifest this intention via written notification to the court.
Lawyers accused of delaying the case
In the same notification signed by the president of the collective of judges, Lou Ieng Ha, in representation also of the judges Lei Wai Seng and Chu Ka Sin, the judges also justify the separation of the civil and criminal parts of the case due to what they consider the likely stalling of the case by some of the lawyers.
“According to the development of the present case, many lawyers do not express an attitude of sufficient cooperation, many of the lawyers [are] still requesting […] the extension of the hearing (even though we know that many defendants are in prison), so we can predict that the handling of the two urgent cases by the court will be delayed.”
