Macau Sentences Tak Chun’s Ex-CEO Chan to 14 Years in Prison

Macau’s junket operators that used to make money from high-rollers grew exponentially in the last 10 years. Everything was going well until the arrest of Alvin Chau, the former CEO of Suncity Group, a leading junket operator. Arrested in November 2021, Chau was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison back in January this year. Now, another ex-boss of a leading junket operator received a prison sentence.

Levo Chan, the former CEO of the famous Tak Chun Group junket in Macau, was handed a 14-year prison sentence by the Macau court on Friday, a report released by IAG reveals. Overall, Chan was charged with 39 counts related to illegal betting within a licensed area.

However, in the end, he was found guilty on only 24 charges. The long list of charges included seven counts of substantial fraud, one count of illegal gambling and aggravated money laundering and multiple counts of illegal gambling in a licensed area.

Five Out of the Initial Nine Defendants Were Sentenced
The judge that reviewed Chan’s case heard evidence that Chan and employees of Tak Chun were involved in “betting under the table.” Such activities were reportedly conducted at VIP rooms in Macau. The judge explained: “Computer evidence showed that Tak Chun had recorded the activities of the betting under-the-table companies at Tak Chun and that they promoted betting under-the-table games to their customers.”

The seven counts of substantial fraud totaled 42 years in prison, while each of the 24 counts of illegal gambling brought one year of prison time. Chan’s charges for aggravated money laundering totaled five years in prison and adding 1.5 years for illegal gambling, his overall total prison sentence surpassed 80 years. However, thanks to the complex legal framework in the country related to combining punishments for multiple crimes, Chan’s final sentence was reduced to 14 years in prison.

In addition to the lengthy prison time, Tak Chun’s former boss was also ordered to repay some MOP$570 million ($70.5 million). This compensation involved Chan, as well as other people who were reportedly involved in the illicit activities.

Overall, the case against Chan involved nine different people. While four of the alleged participants in the illegal activity were cleared of charges, the remaining were sentenced. Besides Chan, Lio Weng Hang received a sentence of 11 years in prison, Lee Tat Chuen was sentenced to 7 years, while Wong Pui Keng, as well as Cheong Sao Pek, received 10 years each.