Chinese punters placed RMB300 bln in bets linked to Suncity online gambling

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Mainland Chinese gamblers had contributed over RMB300 billion (MOP339 billion/USD42 billion) to online gaming activities led by former Suncity Group boss Alvin Chau, China Central Television has reported.

According to a CCTV report on Monday, a court in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, believes that the junket operator could have pocketed around RMB8.7 billion from the business.

The revelation was partof a three-day trial held between 10 and 12 August, with 34 suspects involvedin three separate cases, including Zhang Ningning – a key figure said to havehelped Chau manage assets on the Chinese mainland.

She was sentenced toseven years in prison and slapped with a fine of RMB800,000.

The court said thatChau had hired at least 283 Chinese intermediaries for his mainland operationssince 2015 when he started running multiple online betting platforms in the Philippines.

Each of them wasrequired to invest HKD5 million in Chau’s company, and accomplish a monthly rollingturnover target of HKD50 million.

The court stated thatillegal cross-border payments amounting to as much as RMB1.16 billion were alsodiscovered, allowing the now-defunct company to profit at least RMB17 million.

Alvin Chau wassentenced to 18 years behind bars for illegal gaming, criminal association,fraud, and money laundering in January 2023, several months after his arrest inMacau.

Despite the 49-year-old’s appeal, he was unsuccessful in reducing his prison sentence, unlike some of the other 20 defendants involved in the high-profile case that rocked the city’s junket sector.