Macau police arrest casino junket boss Alvin Chau, 10 others over alleged gambling offences
- Nine men, two women detained as part of investigation launched more than two years ago into illegal gambling platforms, encouraging mainlanders to bet online
- Chau and a Hong Kong resident are among the arrests, which follow mainland authorities issuing warrant for the Suncity Group CEO
Alvin Chau Cheok-wa, the head of Macau’s biggest casino junket operator, and 10 others have been arrested over their alleged links to illegal cross-border gambling and a money-laundering syndicate.
Without giving his full name, police said a 47-year-old Macau businessman surnamed Chau was among the arrested. They described Chau as the head of the syndicate. Another of those held was said to be a Hong Kong resident.
Chau, the CEO of gaming and hospitality investor Suncity Group, was questioned by Macau police on Saturday after mainland authorities a day earlier issued an arrest warrant over his suspected involvement in running illegal cross-border gambling activities.
Police on Sunday said the case would be transferred to the city’s Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation and handling, stressing it would be dealt with in accordance with Macau law and refusing to be drawn on the mainland arrest warrant.
Force spokesman Chong Kam-leong maintained the arrests were unrelated to the mainland warrant but said: “Macau police have always been cooperating with law enforcement agencies elsewhere to exchange intelligence.”
Prosecutors in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, have accused Chau of being in charge of a gambling syndicate that “causes severe damage to the social order of the country”.