Five Individuals Including Levo Chan Ordered to Pay Restitution to Casino Companies

After being found guilty of fraud, the former CEO of the junket operator Tak Chun Group was compelled to make restitution.

Levo Chan Weng Lin, the former CEO of the Macau gambling junket Tak Chun Group, has been forced to pay the government and five casino operators about HKD779.7 million (US$99.3 million) in restitution.

Chan and four other defendants have already received prison sentences ranging from seven to fourteen years for offenses like fraud and illegal gambling. The Macau Court of First Instance said Chan and his friends operated an under-the-table betting business that cheated the Macau government and the city’s six casino operators out of at least HKD1.5 billion (US$191 million) over a period of almost six years.

The judgment also included fines totaling HKD575.2 million (US$73.5 million) as restitution to the Macau government. The total was raised to HKD779.7m on Friday when the court allocated funds to compensate five of the city’s six gambling companies.

Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. will receive almost HKD81.2m (US$10.4m) from the five parties, while Sands China Ltd. will be paid slightly less than HKD47.0m (US$6m), Wynn Macau Ltd. will receive HKD36.8m (US$4.7m), SJM Holdings Ltd. will be paid HKD35.6m (US$4.5m), and MGM China Holdings Ltd. will receive HKD3.8m (US$485,000).

Chan was jailed only a few months after Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, another former Macau junket boss, received a total sentence of 18 years in prison. Both the defense and the prosecution have appealed Chau’s punishment.

A new bill on casino credit and junket contracts is being proposed in Macau
According to Adriano Marques Ho, director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, and André Cheong Weng Chon, spokesperson for the city’s Executive Council, Macau is drafting a bill with new guidelines for credit-offering junket companies.

Junket operators would need a written contract before they could extend credit to any gambling concessionaire they are affiliated with. Management businesses would not be permitted to create a casino gaming credit contract or carry out any relevant legal acts. Management companies are the non-concessionaire entities authorized to operate satellite casino sites under a concessionaire license.

The proposed legislation would repeal Law No. 5/2004, the current gaming credit law, if approved by the Legislative Assembly. Regarding the distinctions between the recently proposed measure and the current gaming credit law, neither Cheong nor Ho offered any additional information. Cheong stated that the government was still considering new legislation measures and assessing the current regulatory framework for illegal gambling.