Sep 30, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  
A witness testifying on Thursday in the criminal trial that features former Suncity Group Ltd junket boss Alvin Chau Cheok Wa has linked the now-defunct junket operator and Mr Chau to a group allegedly running a so-called ‘multiplier’ betting business.
Faye Lao Cui Ji, a former accounting director of Suncity Group, told the court that a “multiplier bets group”, called “Chu Tai Ying”, was related to Suncity Group. When asked if Mr Chau owned Chu Tai Ying, Ms Lao said that it could be said that the multiplier business “belonged” to Mr Chau.
Ms Lao also testified that a monthly summary of the multiplier business would be sent to Mr Chau starting from around 2015.
Asked if she could produce any evidence to support her testimony, Ms Lao said her remarks were based on her own recollections, as there were “no documents” to show the ties between either Suncity or Mr Chau and the multiplier business.
With the multiplier, a form of ‘under-the-table’ gambling, the bet declared publicly at the casino table actually represents a wager made privately that can be a multiple many times the ‘official’ one, thus avoiding paying on the wager made privately Macau’s effective 39-percent tax rate on casino gross gaming revenue.
Macau’s Public Prosecutions Office has indicted Mr Chau and 20 other people for illegal gaming, criminal association, fraud, and money laundering. The defendants are accused of running a criminal syndicate that cheated the Macau government out of about HKD8.26 billion (US$1.05 billion) in tax revenue from 2013 to 2021, according to a copy of the indictment reviewed by GGRAsia.
One of the defendants, Cheong Chi Kin, has already admitted operational involvement in multiplier business. Mr Chau has denied any ties to ‘under-the-table’ gambling business.
Another of those accused, Ali Celestino – described in court as a former Suncity Group executive helping to run its information technology (IT) – had given evidence on Wednesday indicating a computerised setup used to record multiplier bets had been developed for Mr Cheong.
Jun 02, 2023
Jun 01, 2023
Jun 02, 2023
Jun 02, 2023
Jun 02, 2023
Genting Singapore Ltd says Lam Yi Young has resigned from his role as deputy chief executive of Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd. The latter firm is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Genting...Jun 01, 2023
Alfastreet, a manufacturer of electronic gaming machines,...Jun 01, 2023
Casino equipment maker Sega Sammy Creation Inc is tweaking...Jun 01, 2023
The iGaming segment in Asia “has grown rapidly” since...May 31, 2023
Showing slot machine players – via animations on the...May 31, 2023
Macau stocks in likelihood “have been punished too much...May 31, 2023
There are foreign companies still interested in investing...May 31, 2023
Thailand could pass the necessary enabling legislation for...May 30, 2023
China will remain a key market for Asian gaming...May 30, 2023
Alejandro Tengco (pictured in a file photo), chairman and...May 30, 2023
There are “plenty of reasons” for the global gaming...May 30, 2023
Gaming equipment provider International Game Technology Plc...May 30, 2023
The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023 Special Edition:...May 29, 2023
Austria-based gaming equipment maker and operator Novomatic...May 25, 2023
Sports betting and online casino operating platform...May 24, 2023
The business performance in Asia of gaming content and...May 18, 2023
The organisers of Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023...May 17, 2023
Gaming content and equipment supplier Light & Wonder...May 16, 2023
Casino equipment maker Sega Sammy Creation Inc is to...May 09, 2023
Casino slot machine and digital gaming content provider...May 05, 2023
The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia event in Singapore is the...May 04, 2023
An adviser to a Thailand parliamentary committee mulling...(Click here for more)
US$8.1 billion
Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue in the five months to May 31