Alvin Chau denies link between Chinese real estate and under-the-table bets

Alvin Chau Cheok Wa has claimed that asset management projects in mainland China had no relationship with the settlement of player debts from under-the-table betting in Macau.

Macau.- Alvin Chau Cheok Wa has given further testimony in the trial in which he is accused of running illicit gambling in Macau. He said there were “no links between asset management in the mainland and under-the-table bets.”

Chau admitted there might have been “some gambling debts involved” with some Suncity Group investment deals in mainland China, but said that there was never any asset investment in the country because of the under-the-table bets.

Former Suncity CEO Chau Cheok Wa denies accusations that he ran under-the-table betting for high rollers, but Cheong Chi Kin, a former colleague, said the former Suncity Group boss knew about the multiplier betting business.

Also testifying at Wednesday’s session was Mak Weng Kin, a judiciary police officer tasked with investigating the alleged long-term involvement of Chau and Suncity Group in under-the-table bets in Macau. Mak Weng Kin told the court his investigation had looked into several real estate investments acquired by Suncity Group in mainland China. 

He said these were a means for mainland Chinese gamblers to pay off debts they owed after taking part in the under-the-table bets at Suncity Group’s VIP gaming club in Macau. Chau denied Mak’s claims. but the officer said the investigation had concluded that several groups had run multiplier-bets over the years, some of which were directly run by Suncity Group.

Mak said the former CEO of SunCity directed their departments of marketing, accounting, operation, cages and IT to take part in under-the-table betting.

The role of the operation department

According to Mak, an operations department led by Cheong Chi Kin was specialised in handling under-the-table bets. Chi Kin is an ex-colleague of Alvin Chau Cheok Wa and a co-defendant in the trial. He has previously told the court that he ran two companies that facilitated under-the-table betting and brought customers to VIP rooms at Suncity.

Mak produced documents seized from Suncity Group, which contained “educational materials” for the junket firm’s staff on how to handle and record under-the-table bets. The trial continues.