Macau’s Court of Final Appeal has dismissed an appeal by former Suncity Group CEO Alvin Chau and upheld his original 18-year prison sentence.
The verdict was delivered on Wednesday afternoon in a closed session after Chau appealed a January 2023 ruling that found him guilty of criminal association, illegal gambling and money laundering. Eight other defendants in the case also appealed findings against them, with all similarly upheld.
Likewise, Wednesday’s decision saw the Court of Final Appeal confirm a previous judgement by which the nine defendants must pay HK$24.87 billion (US$3.18 billion) jointly and severally to the Macau government, considered to be the amount of illegal gains the group made from illegal gambling over the years.
Chau was arrested in November 2021 and transferred to Coloane Prison for detention on charges of fraud, triad offences and illegal gambling. Suncity Group, at the time renowned as Asia’s largest junket operator, shut down shortly afterwards.
The case was tried in the Court of First Instance over more than six months, and on 18 January 2023 Chau was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment and ordered to pay compensation to five of Macau’s concessionaires.
Both the Prosecutor’s Office and Chau appealed against the judgement to the Court of Second Instance. The Court announced its decision in October, dismissing the fraud charge but upholding Chau’s 18-year prison sentence and increasing the total amount in compensation owed by him to the government and concessionaires from HK$8.6 billion (US$1.1 billion) to HK$25 billion entirely to the government.
Chau and the Prosecutor’s Office subsequently launched their own appeals to the Court of Final Appeal, with Wednesday’s verdict essentially putting an end to any legal recourse.
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