Alvin Chau trial verdict set for January 18
Alvin Chau has called for the acquittal of Suncity employees.
Macau.- The judge presiding over the trial of former Suncity executives has heard final pleas and set January 18, 2023, as the date for the verdict. Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, the former CEO of Suncity (now LET Group Holdings Ltd), is indicted for allegedly leading a criminal group, money laundering, providing illegal gambling at licenced establishments and making illegal online and proxy bets.
In the last session, Chau said that Suncity was not a criminal syndicate nor a triad and said his company helped improve the operational model of junket operators in Macau.
Chau said: “When we earned MOP100, we put MOP99 back into Macau society and economy… What kind of triad was [Suncity]?”
He called also dedicated his final plea to call for the acquittal of former Suncity employees. “I want to apologise to them and their families for putting them in misery,” he said.
Some defendants broke down in tears in the session. Market development executives Jeffrey Si Tou Chi Hou and Ellute Cheung Yat Ping insisted they were innocent and only followed orders.
Ali Celestino, a former executive at Suncity Group, appeared to admit wrongdoing without specifying what it was. He said: “I thought the IT department was just a supporting department… and I would be okay as long as I didn’t get myself involved in the operation.”
Cheong Chi Kin, the only defendant in this case who has directly admitted operating multiplier bets, asked for a lenient sentence and promised to compensate the Macau government. His lawyer has previously said his client was willing to pay MOP300,000 in compensation to the Macau authorities.
