Alvin Chau: Macau gambling kingpin jailed for 18 years

Alvin Chau: Macau gambling kingpin jailed for 18 years.
Source : BBC News.
Date : 18 January 2023.

Macau gambling kingpin Alvin Chau has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for more than 100 charges including organised crime and illegal gaming.

The 48-year-old was found guilty in a case that centred on illegal bets exceeding HK$823.7bn (£85.7bn; $105bn).

Chau, a high-profile and colourful figure in the local casino industry, had denied the charges.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony, is the only Chinese city where gambling is legal.

Chau was the chairman and founder of Suncity Group. It was Macau’s biggest operator of junkets, or organised trips for wealthy gamblers to casinos.

It arranged for high rollers from mainland China to travel to Macau and gamble in the city’s casinos, and offered loans to them. It also collected debts for casinos, and operated VIP rooms across Macau’s casinos.