Former colleague of Alvin Chau admits Suncity took unregistered bets

Cheong Chi Kin has told court that he developed a system to record under-the-table transactions.

Macau.- Cheong Chi Kin, a former colleague of Alvin Chau Cheok Wa and a co-defendant in the former Suncity Group CEO’s trial, has told Macau’s Court of First Instance that he ran two companies that facilitated under-the-table betting and brought customers to VIP rooms at Suncity.

He told prosecutor Lai U Hou that he had ties to companies specialising in handling gaming transactions, which had many employees, but said those groups had no affiliation with Sun City. He also admitted to placing multiplier bets in the Suncity VIP room and in rooms run by other junket operators in Macau, saying that Chau had referred him to many customers interested in multiplier betting.

Chau has denied accusations that he ran under-the-table betting for high rollers, but Kin said the former Suncity Group boss knew about the multiplier betting business. Kin said that it was one of the “hot” gaming techniques in Macau’s gaming industry.

Previous to Kin’s statements, Ali Celestino, a former executive at Suncity Group, had told the court that the company had an IT system for keeping track of illegal multiplier bets. Celestino mentioned Kin as a business partner of Chau and a person from the operational department but not employed at Suncity Group.

Both Celestino and Kin are among 20 defendants charged alongside former Suncity CEO Alvin Chau Cheok Wa on counts of illegal gaming, criminal association, fraud and money laundering.