A Wednesday court session in Macau heard four witnesses give views on to what extent former Macau junket operator Suncity Group had been linked to another local entity said to have handled so-called multiplier bets in some Macau gaming rooms.
Former Suncity Group boss Alvin Chau Cheok Wa is one of 21 people being tried together at the Court of First Instance, on charges of illegal gaming, criminal association, fraud, and money laundering. The indictment had stated the junket business led by Mr Chau had for years run a form of under-the-table betting for high rollers in Macau.
Referred to by some commentators and government officials as the “multiplier”, it allegedly involved at its core, defrauding the Macau government of gaming tax via a private arrangement where the face value of the player’s bet shown on a table, was multiplied many times for the purposes of play and bet settlement.
The four witnesses respectively stated they had been employed by locally-incorporated Tin Commercial Agency, said to have been run by another defendant in the case, Cheong Chi Kin. The indictment had alleged the agency was set up by an illegal gaming group led by Mr Chau.
The four quizzed on Wednesday respectively said they had neither received any work-related instructions from Mr Chau during their employment at Tin Commercial Agency, nor participated in any Suncity Group corporate activities or staff meetings. Pay and holiday arrangements were also different at the agency from those at Suncity Group, said two of those witnesses, a woman called Leong In Lan, and a man called Lo Fan Seng.
But they and the two other witnessess – a woman called Chan I Kuan and a man called Lei Weng Chun – confirmed they had received periodic “tips” paid at Suncity Group’s office at China Civil Plaza in downtown Macau. All of them claimed they did not know the origin of such tips.
Mr Lo said he had understood Tin Commercial Agency was the “operation department” of the junket firm, an impression he formed during the course of his work. Mr Lei told the Wednesday session that he had understood it was a “support” unit to Suncity Group.
Mr Lei said had been tasked by the agency to record player wagers made in multiplier bets, and the identity details of those players. He claimed multiplier bets had taken place not only at Suncity Group’s VIP rooms, but also at play venues hosted either by other VIP junkets or by casino operators themselves.
Tin Commercial Agency was responsible for payouts on multiplier bets when the players registered with it, won, Mr Lei said.
The trial continues.
