Macau police take Alvin Chau in for questioning after mainland Chinese authorities issue arrest warrant over cross-border gambling allegations
- Suncity Group CEO accused of running illegal cross-border gambling activities
- Prosecutors say the illicit gambling syndicate he runs has caused ‘severe damage to China’s social order’
Macau detectives took Suncity Group CEO Alvin Chau Cheok-wa and others to a police station for questioning on Saturday, after mainland Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant over his alleged involvement in running illegal cross-border gambling activities.
“The Macau Special Administrative Region reiterates that all employees of the gambling industry in Macau must strictly abide by the national and Macau’s related laws,” the city’s government said. “Any behaviour breaching the city’s laws will be held accountable.”
Prosecutors in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, said Chau – the boss of Macau’s biggest organiser of junkets for high rollers – was in charge of a gambling syndicate that “causes severe damage to the social order of the country”.
Wenzhou’s public security department announced the issuing of the arrest warrant against Chau on its Weibo account on Friday, saying it had been investigating allegations since July last year.
Hong Kong police have not received any requests from mainland authorities to help with the case, the Post has learned.
The Post has approached Macau police for comment on whether they will work together with mainland authorities on the case, and if Chau could be extradited over the border.
Word of Chau being taken in by Macau police quickly attracted attention on the mainland, with the development becoming a hot search topic on China’s Twitter-like Weibo.