Levo Chan sentenced to 14 years in prison

The former head of junket operator Tak Chun Group was indicted for organised crime, illicit gaming activities, fraud and money laundering.

Macau.- The Macau Court of First Instance has sentenced Levo Chan Weng Lin, the former head of the now-defunct junket operator Tak Chun Group, to 14 years in prison. He was sentenced for 34 charges, including organised crime, illicit gaming activities, fraud and money laundering. 

Macau public prosecutors accused Chan of 83 charges in total. However, the presiding judge of the trial, Lam Peng Fai, reduced the number of charges to 34 due to legal technicality, and the court found Chan guilty of all of them.

Levo Chan Weng Lin was arrested in January 2022. According to public prosecutors, he established a criminal syndicate that facilitated under-the-table bets in Macau casinos, resulting in HK$575.2m in gaming tax losses for Macau’s government and HK$135m in losses for the city’s gaming operators between 2014 and 2020.

Lam Peng Fai ruled that Chan and four other defendants must pay compensation to the Macau government and five gaming operators (Melco Resorts being the only operator not included in the claim). The court did not specify the compensation amount, but said the criminal syndicate led by Chan profiteered by HK$1.5bn from under-the-table bets.

In addition to Chan, four other defendants have been convicted of under-the-table betting, fraud and involvement in a criminal organisation. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from seven to eleven years. Four further defendants have been acquitted of all charges.

All those sentenced have been given a 20-day period to appeal to the Court of Second Instance. The guilty verdict against Chan follows the sentencing of Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, the former boss of Suncity Group, to 18 years in prison in January for similar charges.