Levo Chan is arrested by Macau authorities in January 2022, above. The junket tycoon is accused of offering illegal gambling that bilked the regional government out of at least US$62 million in taxes. (Image: Macau Business)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHe was back in court on the next day and \u201clooked healthy,\u201d Macau Business<\/em> reports. But an altercation between Judge Lam Peng Fai and a defense attorney, which sparked accusations of perjury and judicial coercion, was causing a stir on Wednesday.<\/p>\nChan and Tak Chun are accused. among other things, of offering illegal, under-the-table \u201cmultiplier bets\u201d to its high-rolling clients. These are private bets that involved the junket multiplying the stakes on \u201cofficial\u201d bets placed at Macau\u2019s casinos, and settled later, tax-free. according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n
This generated around $200 million for Tak Chun over the past six years, while cheating Macau\u2019s government out of at least US$62 million in taxes, the indictment claims.<\/p>\n
\u2018Ludicrous Explanation\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\nOn Wednesday, witness Sandra Chan Hoi Ian took the stand. She was a deputy director of the cage management department of Tak Chun until late 2021, a month before her boss\u2019 arrest led to the company\u2019s demise. She acknowledged that cage management had facilitated multiplier betting for gamblers at the junket\u2019s VIP rooms.<\/p>\n
But she would not implicate her superiors by confirming they had knowledge of the illegal operations, which irked the judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like you\u2019re hiding something\u2026 You want to protect someone,\u201d Lam said, as translated by Macau Business<\/em>. \u201cThe logic that lies in your answers is that all low-level employees [of Tak Chun] automatically did everything and instructed each other to do the tasks\u2026 and the senior executives had nothing to do. This explanation is just ludicrous!\u201d<\/p>\nYou have cost the court 23 minutes hearing this. If the situation is still like this in 30 minutes\u2026 I will ask the prosecutor to charge you with perjury,\u201d <\/strong>he added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIt\u2019s not the first time Judge Lam has made this specific threat to witnesses in the trial who he has accused of exhibiting \u201cselective memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
But this time, defense lawyer Ai Linzhi objected strongly to the judge\u2019s line, arguing that he \u201ccannot demand a witness testify.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ai demanded access to the audio recording of the session.<\/p>\n