{"id":232854,"date":"2022-09-20T13:34:38","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T18:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=232854"},"modified":"2022-09-21T14:30:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T19:30:19","slug":"alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/","title":{"rendered":"Alvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Suncity boss Alvin Chau has denied operating illegal online betting services that targeted gamblers in Macau and mainland China. In a Macau Court of First Instance on Tuesday, the fallen junket head also denied that his company had been involved in organizing so-called \u201cunder-the-table\u201d side-betting for high rollers.<\/p>\n

\"Suncity
Alvin Chau, pictured for a 2018 feature in CEO Magazine<\/em>\u00a0before his fall from grace. The Suncity boss has denied all charges against him. (Image: CEO Magazine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chau, 48, is charged<\/a>, along with 20 other defendants, with illegal gambling, criminal association, fraud, and money laundering. On Monday’s first day of his trial, he pleaded not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n

Until his arrest last November, Chau was the chairman and CEO of Suncity, the world\u2019s biggest junket operator. The now-defunct junket company was responsible for an estimated 25% of Macau\u2019s VIP market segment revenue, which in 2014 alone would have been US$11 billion.<\/p>\n

\u2018Criminal Syndicate\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Prosecutors argue Chau and his fellow defendants operated a \u201ccriminal syndicate\u201d that cheated the Macau government of around HKD8.26 billion (US$1.05 billion) in tax revenue from 2013 to 2021.<\/p>\n

They did this, allegedly, by offering their casino high rollers under-the-table \u201cmultiplier bets.\u201d This involved stakes on each official bet placed at a casino being multiplied surreptitiously by the junket group and settled later, tax-free.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m aware there have been activities of under-the-table betting \u2026 but I have not been involved in it,\u201d<\/strong> Chau said, as reported by Macau Business.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added that the side betting operation \u201cmay be\u201d organized by fellow defendant Cheong Chi Kin, who he said was not employed by Suncity.<\/p>\n

Of 40K messages seized by authorities from the servers of two alleged side-betting companies overseen by Cheong, Chau was involved in just 40. He claimed that this was proof he could not be involved in the operations.<\/p>\n

Proxy Betting Admission<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While Chau denies Suncity had a hand in online gambling, he did admit it had been involved in proxy betting, which is outlawed in Macau and the rest of China. This is where gamblers use a third party to bet live at a casino. Bets are often arranged through mobile apps, and the results are relayed or video-streamed in real-time.<\/p>\n

Chau told the court that Suncity hadn’t operated proxy betting services in Macau since the practice was banned in 2016. Instead, he relocated operations to other markets, notably the Philippines, where it was legal, he pointed out.<\/p>\n

\n

In 2019, a report by Chinese state media<\/a> accused Suncity of operating online and proxy gambling operations from the Philippines and Cambodia. Those operations were allegedly reaping billions of dollars by targeting Chinese citizens. The report claimed that these operations were causing \u201cgreat harm\u201d to the country\u2019s social and economic order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After that, Chau said he transferred the business to a man named Richard Yeung, although there was no official record of the transaction.<\/p>\n

The case continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Suncity boss Alvin Chau has denied operating illegal online betting services that targeted gamblers in Macau and mainland China. In a Macau Court of First Instance on Tuesday, the fallen junket head also denied that his company had been involved in organizing so-called \u201cunder-the-table\u201d side-betting for high rollers. Chau, 48, is charged, along with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":232857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,60],"tags":[82344,51,13692],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Ops<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alvin Chau appears in a Macau courtroom to deny he organized side-multiplier bets in Macau and online gaming in the Philippines.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Ops\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alvin Chau appears in a Macau courtroom to deny he organized side-multiplier bets in Macau and online gaming in the Philippines.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-20T18:34:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-21T19:30:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alvin-Chau1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/\",\"name\":\"Alvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Ops\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alvin-Chau1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-20T18:34:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-21T19:30:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Alvin Chau appears in a Macau courtroom to deny he organized side-multiplier bets in Macau and online gaming in the Philippines.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alvin-Chau1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alvin-Chau1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Alvin Chau, pictured for a 2018 feature in CEO Magazine, before his fall from grace. The Suncity has denied all charges against him. (Image: CEO Magazine)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Alvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Operations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Ops","description":"Alvin Chau appears in a Macau courtroom to deny he organized side-multiplier bets in Macau and online gaming in the Philippines.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Ops","og_description":"Alvin Chau appears in a Macau courtroom to deny he organized side-multiplier bets in Macau and online gaming in the Philippines.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-09-20T18:34:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-21T19:30:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alvin-Chau1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/","name":"Alvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Ops","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alvin-Chau1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-09-20T18:34:38+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-21T19:30:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Alvin Chau appears in a Macau courtroom to deny he organized side-multiplier bets in Macau and online gaming in the Philippines.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alvin-Chau1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alvin-Chau1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Alvin Chau, pictured for a 2018 feature in CEO Magazine, before his fall from grace. The Suncity has denied all charges against him. (Image: CEO Magazine)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alvin-chau-trial-junket-kingpin-denies-online-gambling-side-betting-ops\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Alvin Chau Trial: Junket Kingpin Denies Online Gambling, Side-Betting Operations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}