Some in Macau Suncity trial separately jailed by mainland

Sep 30, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Two defendants in the Macau criminal court case related to former Macau junket brand Suncity Group Ltd were on Friday jailed by a court in Zhejiang province, mainland China.

One of them, Cheung Ning Ning, was imprisoned for seven years and fined CNY800,000 (US$112,700) by Wenzhou People’s Intermediate Court, for the crimes of “establishing casino”, and “illegal business operation”, said the official WeChat account of the mainland court. The statement said she had accepted the sentence and would not be appealing.

She was one of 35 accused that had already pleaded guilty in the mainland process, to involvement in gambling-related crimes.

The cases – involving an allegedly “criminal group” led by Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, the founder of Suncity Group – were combined into one process, with hearings that began in August. The charges were linked to promotion of “cross-border gambling” activities to people in the mainland, via the Philippines and Macau.

Ms Cheung has not been present in the Macau court hearings, where a key defendant is Mr Chau.

In the Macau proceedings, a total of 21 defendants is accused of illegal gaming, criminal association, fraud, and money laundering.

Macau prosecutors have described Hong Kong ID holder Ms Cheung as a person who had been responsible for Suncity Group’s “capital department” and a subordinate to former Suncity Group chief financial officer Philip Wong Pak Ling. The Macau process is ongoing.

According to the Friday statement of the Wenzhou court, Ms Cheung and another defendant called Peng Hao, had been instructed by Mr Chau about “setting up companies in the mainland” for the purpose of receiving there “gambling capital and gambling debt of the cross-border gambling group,” and helping it to be active on the mainland.

The court also stated: “Cheung Ning Ning has violated the country’s regulations in illegal foreign exchange transactions, and hence disturbed the financial market’s order.”

A mainland China resident called Peng Kexun – another defendant in the Macau process – was also on Friday jailed by the Wenzhou court for the crime of “establishing casino”.

The other 33 defendants in the Wenzhou court proceedings were also jailed on Friday. The range of the sentences applied across the 35 accused, was from 15 months, to seven years and six months. Fines imposed ranged from CNY50,000 to CNY3.0 million.

The Wenzhou court also noted, in its Friday statement that the “cross-border gambling group” had made an “illicit profit of over CNY17 million”. The court added that the accused had “seriously disturbed our country’s financial market order”.

Following the sentencing, only one out of the 35 defendants said they intended to appeal against the Wenzhou court decision.

Two other defendants in the Macau process – Au Wang Tong and Li Siu Chung – have also faced action from the Wenzhou court. But it was not clear from Friday’s WeChat statement whether they were among the 35 issued on Friday with jail sentences.

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