A local taxi displays a Neptune Group ad
Hong Kong has launched a money-laundering investigation into one of Macau’s top gambling bosses and frozen his assets in the latest setback for the embattled casino industry, Dow Jones reported yesterday.
The newswire detailed how Hong Kong police named Cheung Chi-Tai and seven of his privately held companies as respondents to an order to have their assets frozen, confirming a Macau Daily Times report back in March.
As stated by the Dow Jones report, people familiar with the investigation said the order was related to a continuing probe into possible money laundering by Mr Cheung, who, according to court testimony and people familiar with the matter, has historically been one of the biggest shareholders in one of Macau’s largest junkets, Neptune Guangdong Group. At a company event in March this year, Mr Cheung sat at one of the head tables and handed out business cards that identified him as an executive director of the group.
Back in March, The Times was first to report that police had detained an owner of the Neptune Group at their Hong Kong apartment. According to MDT’s source, who asked to remain anonymous, Neptune’s shareholder was under suspicion of money laundering activities “involving junket operations in Macau.” MDT wasn’t able to confirm the name at the time but learned that the accused “has close links to Cheung Chi-tai and/or brothers Lin Cheuk Fung, Lin Cheuk Chiu, owners of the group.”
In a separate article in April, MDT reported that around 40 people connected with Neptune Group “have allegedly been detained or questioned by HK police.”
The fact that someone as senior in the junket industry as Mr Cheung is now the focus of a money-laundering investigation represents another serious blow to a business that has already been crippled by China’s corruption crackdown and a liquidity squeeze, said gambling industry executives, as stated by Dow Jones.
Junkets recruit gamblers in China, lend them money to bet with in Macau, and later handle the business of debt collection. Junket customers accounted for nearly two-thirds, or USD30 billion, of last year’s casino revenue in Macau, according to government figures, feeding high rollers into a city that generated seven times the gambling revenue of the Las Vegas Strip.
Mr Cheung, who hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing, didn’t immediately respond to any of Dow Jones’ emails or a phone message seeking comment. It is unclear whether Mr. Cheung has a lawyer. MDT
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