Macao gambling promoter Alvin Chau sentenced to 18 years – public broadcaster

Philip Wang

Alvin Chau, one of Macao’s high-profile gambling promoters, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for racketeering and illegal gambling activities, the city’s public broadcaster TDM reported Wednesday.

Chau, 48, was the former chairman of Suncity Group, a Macao-based company that helped promote gambling by lending credit to high rollers. Macao is the only region in China where gambling in casinos is legal.

Chau was ordered by the court to pay the Macao government more than HK$6.5 billion ($830 million), the broadcaster reported, as well as $22.7 mlliion to $98 million to a number of casino operators.

After the ruling, Chau’s lawyer Pedro Leal told TDM that he had not been in touch with Chau but would recommend to appeal the decision.

Chau was first arrested in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang on November 2020, according to state media CCTV.

After his arrest, experts said that the move signaled a tougher stance on gambling in Macao by the Beijing authorities.

Macao, a tiny territory of some 600,000 people, is one hour by ferry from Hong Kong. Gambling is the lifeblood of the former Portuguese colony, which depends on millions of tourists from mainland China to support its economy. But its casinos bled hundreds of millions of dollars a month during the pandemic.

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