The case against the former chairman of Tak Chun Group, Levo Chan – who is accused of money laundering and illegal gambling – was tried by the Court of First Instance on Monday morning. However, only Chan was present in court with eight other defendants absent.
Chan was arrested by Macau’s Judiciary Police on 29 January and has been detained in Coloane Prison until now. He was charged with money laundering, running a criminal syndicate and illegal gambling, including “betting under the table” and proxy betting. The indictment alleges that Chan made a profit of at least HK$1.5 billion by turning over HK$34.9 billion through betting under the table activities.
The case will be heard by a panel of three judges and the prosecutor, Lai U Hou, is the same prosecutor in charge of the case against former Suncity Group chairman Alvin Chau.
Although eight defendants did not attend Monday’s hearing, the court decided to continue the case. Chan chose not to answer any questions, other than those about his identity. He said he was a businessman with four children who earned HK$300,000 a month and whose criminal record included only “theft of a vehicle” when he was 16 or 17.
The court called a number of witnesses for the prosecution on Monday, some of whom testified in writing and were not present in person. Most of the witnesses who were present were former Tak Chun employees.
One witness, said to be a former player, claimed he had twice “bet under the table” in Tak Chun VIP rooms and had lost a total of more than HK$6 million. Another said he had used a telephone betting service in a Tak Chun VIP room, adding that he would call Tak Chun if he wanted to top up his telephone betting account.
Company employees who testified in court said they had seen people betting under the table in Tak Chun VIP rooms but added the people involved were not employees of the company. The witnesses also confirmed the company ran a telephone betting business but insisted the business did not operate after the government banned it.
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