Levo Chan, the former CEO of Tak Chun, was sentenced to 14 years in prison

Levo Chan, the former CEO of the major Macau junket Tak Chun Group, was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a Macau court.

The Court of First Instance jailed Chan on Friday morning, finding him guilty on all counts after more than four months of deliberation. There were 24 counts of illegal gaming in a licenced place, seven counts of serious fraud, one count of illegal gambling, and one act of aggravated money laundering among the allegations.

Chan was sentenced to ten years in prison for criminal association, one year in prison for each of 24 counts of unlawful gambling in a licenced area (24 years), six years in prison for each of seven counts of substantial fraud (42 years), 1.5 years in prison for illegal gambling, and five years in prison for aggravated money laundering.

His overall sentence was 82.5 years, but due to local legislation governing combined punishment for many crimes, the judge decided on a final term of 14 years in jail.

Chan is the second former executive of a major Macau junket to be sentenced to prison this year, following Suncity's Alvin Chau, who was sentenced to 18 years in January on a similar set of allegations.

Wong Pui Keng, Cheong Sao Pek, Lio Weng Hang, Chan Kam Chi, Lee Tat Chuen, Choi Wai Chan, Li Manxing, and Tan Guichang were among the nine defendants in the Chan case.

Wong Pui Keng, Cheong Sao Pek, Lio Weng Hang, and Lee Tat Chuen were sentenced to ten years, ten years, eleven years, and seven years in jail, respectively.

The charges against Chan Kam Chi, Choi Wai Chan, Li Manxing, and T Tan Guichang were dropped.

The Macau government has also ordered Chan and others to return MOP$570 million (US$70.5 million) in compensation.

Galaxy Entertainment Group, MGM China, Sands China, SJM, and Wynn Macau were among the concessionaires who received compensation. Galaxy claimed MOP$81.2 million (US$10 million), Wynn claimed MOP$36.8 million (US$4.6 million), Sands claimed MOP$47.0 million (US$5.8 million), SJM claimed MOP$35.7 million (US$4.4 million), and MGM claimed MOP$3.8 million (US$474,000).

Following assessment by the court and hearing evidence from Tak Chun's employees, the judge stated in court that Tak Chun had engaged in "betting under the table" activities in Macau VIP rooms.

"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," stated the judge.

"Some representatives from betting under the table companies were present at the Tak Chun Group (VIP lounge), conducted betting under the table for players, and recorded data on [these activities]."

Chan was initially accused with 39 counts of illicit betting in a licenced area, but the court ultimately convicted him of 24 counts.

The defendant had also obtained at least MOP$1.5 billion (US$186 million) in illegal gains by betting beneath the table, according to the court.

Concerning the claim of defrauding the government and the six concessionaires, the court determined that both the concessionaires and the government sustained losses as a result of this under-the-table betting, which disguised true turnover.

Regarding internet betting or telephone betting (illegal gambling offences), the court noted that, based on witness testimony and computer records, Tak Chun Group had close ties with telephone betting companies, and that extensive telephone betting records and customer information were discovered on Tak Chun's computers.

Concerning aggravated money laundering, the court found substantial evidence that Chan had exploited Tak Chun's account to conceal ill-gotten earnings and then moved some of the proceeds to his personal bank account, purportedly in violation of money laundering statutes.

The court emphasised that the crime of criminal affiliation is the fundamental offence of triad society, and that if the defendant used the criminal association to earn unlawful benefits, it would constitute a triad infraction. The court determined that Chan formed and headed a criminal syndicate to engage in illegal activities such as telephone betting and under-the-table betting, which is a triad felony.

By fLEXI tEAM