The head of an illegal casino business based inside the borders of Myanmar was jailed last week for laundering some of the HK$314.1 million proceeds in Hong Kong reports The South China Morning Post.
Tam Hung, 58, had earlier been convicted on three counts of laundering funds from two of his casinos via Hong Kong bank accounts between 2005 and 2007. He denied the charges.
The court was told Mr Tam started operating New Oriental Casino group on the border between Myanmar and China’s Yunnan province in 1999. The case focused on two casinos the prosecution said Mr Tam had opened between 2005 and 2007, including one in Myitkyina, the capital of Myanmar’s remote and often rebellious Kachin state.
The Hong Kong judge had ruled he was satisfied it was illegal to gamble in Myanmar after accepting the testimony of a Myanmar government official. The latter said the country had passed an ordinance to restrict gambling.
Mr Tam, who allegedly managed the revenue of the two casinos, put some of the proceeds through accounts he had opened in Hong Kong at Wing Hang Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of China and Hang Seng Bank, the court heard.