Junket kingpin Levo Chan sentenced to 14 years; defendants ordered to pay HKD780m
Former Tak Chun boss Levo Chan was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment Friday for illegal gambling and gang crimes by the Court of First Instance.
The high-profile arrest and prosecution of the junket kingpin comes three months after the court arrested junket mogul Alvin Chau, coinciding with China’s intensified crackdown on junket operators bringing high-rollers from the mainland.
A panel of Macau judges convicted Chan on 34 counts, including unlawful gambling, running criminal syndicates, fraud as well as money laundering, and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
On Friday, four other defendants in the case were also sentenced to years in prison: two were sentenced to prison terms of 10 years, one for 11 years and the other seven years for gang crimes and fraud.
The defendants, including the former junket boss, have been ordered to pay HKD575.2 million to the SAR government, and about HKD204.5 million to gaming operators.
Late last year, concessionaires sought damages from Chan and other defendants, claiming to have lost revenue due to Tak Chun allegedly allowing under-the-table betting at their VIP rooms.
These were “multiplier bets,” private wagers that involved Tak Chun multiplying the stakes on “official” bets placed at Macau’s casinos. They were settled later, tax-free, according to prosecutors.
Chan was estimated to have earned USD200 million from these bets on a total outlay of USD4.5 billion while denying the government USD62 million in tax revenue.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the nine defendants in the case were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
In January 2022, the Judiciary Police announced the arrest of two local men, including Chan, who were suspected of being involved in criminal groups, illegal gambling operations and money laundering.
In his closing statement last month, Chan said that Tak Chun had played a role in contributing to Macau’s economic and social development, denying accusations of a criminal syndicate and triad gang.
However, Prosecutor Coordinator Tam I Kuan emphasized that through the court hearings, she considered the accusations to be “highly justified.”
Also, according to the prosecutor, despite positioning to pitch gamblers for the six casino operators, Tak Chun “violated” the contract and caused loss to the government through parallel gambling. This has also led to erroneous reports of gross gambling revenue due to unreliable turnover reported to the casino operators.
Meanwhile, Chan had planned to flee to Taiwan, a court heard in February. According to the court, he was preparing to start a new life in Taiwan, which does not have an extradition treaty with Macau or China. Documents have been uncovered showing he had applied for Taiwanese residency.
