The trial of the Suncity case started yesterday, with Alvin Chau, the group’s former CEO, denying all the charges against him by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Chau said in court that the group dealt with hundreds of thousands of customers and had no need to resort to illegal gambling.
Alvin Chau, the former CEO of the world’s largest VIP bookmaker, the Suncity group, yesterday denied all charges at the start of his trial in Macau for criminal association and money laundering. Only the seven defendants who had been remanded in custody were present at the session, with the rest absent or tried in absentia.
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Chau, 48, said he “never” participated in the crime of illicit gambling exploitation, either through bets placed over the phone or over the Internet. The defendant even said he had “advised” an acquaintance not to engage in such activity.
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Chau’s lawyer, Kuong Kuok On, meanwhile, argued that the crime of unlawful gambling exploitation did not exist, as electronic or telephone gambling was legal in the Philippines until 2019.
