GGRAsia – Philip Wong resigns as non-exec director of Summit Ascent

Philip Wong resigns as non-exec director of Summit Ascent

Dec 03, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Philip Wong Pak Ling, a non-executive director of Asian casino backer Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd, has submitted his resignation “in the best interests of the company,” the firm said in a Thursday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The move was also so he could “devote more time for his personal matters”, it added.

Summit Ascent controls the Tigre de Cristal casino resort (pictured) near Vladivostok in the Russian Far East.

Summit Ascent shares were this week suspended from trading for 24 hours, linked to fallout from an investigation into Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, founder of privately-held Suncity Group.

From Monday to the close of business on Thursday this week, Summit Ascent’s share price fell 65.3 percent, from HKD0.49 (US$0.0629) to HKD0.17.

When Mr Wong was appointed to the Summit Ascent board at the end of May 2019, he was described as chief financial officer of privately-held Suncity Group, at the time a leading gambling junket brand in the Macau casino market.

In the same 2019 filing, Summit Ascent had said that Mr Chau had become non-executive director and chairman of Summit Ascent.

It was announced on Wednesday this week that Mr Chau had resigned that day from those roles at Summit Ascent.

On Saturday, Mr Chau was detained in Macau on suspicion of enabling illegal gambling by Chinese players, including through proxy gambling via the Philippines.

On Wednesday, it emerged that Suncity Group VIP rooms in Macau were closing.

Suncity Group Holdings Ltd – another Hong Kong-listed firm that has been associated with Mr Chau, and that has interests in casino schemes in Vietnam and the Philippines – is the controlling shareholder of Summit Ascent.

Mr Chau also on Wednesday resigned as chairman and executive director of Suncity Group Holdings.