Macau to Auction Alvin Chau’s Property Portfolio, Seeking Restitution

Posted on: July 22, 2024, 01:52h. 

Last updated on: July 22, 2024, 02:09h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Assets of fallen junket king Alvin Chau will be auctioned off by the Macau government as it seeks to recoup the US$3.2 billion owed by Chau and his former company, Suncity.

Alvin Chau, assets, Suncity
Alvin Chau, above, prior to his 2021 arrest and subsequent conviction for various gambling-related crimes. (Image: Bloomberg)

This includes Chau’s real-estate portfolio of 34 properties and parking spaces. The portfolio will go on sale on October 22 with an asking price of approximately MOP300 million (US$37.3 million), Macao’s Court of First Instance has ordered.

Chau was sentenced to 18 years in prison in January 2023 after being convicted of illegal gambling and criminal association. Most of the charges against the formerly powerful junket operator were related to Suncity’s provision of “under-the-table” bets for its VIP clients.

This involved multiplying stakes on official bets placed at Macau’s casinos, which would be settled later, tax-free.

Damages Tripled

In this way, Chau and Suncity defrauded the Macau government out of US$1.1 billion, according to prosecutors. In October 2023, an appeals court tripled the damages owed to the government while upholding the 18-year prison term.

Chau was also accused of operating online gambling platforms from the Philippines and Cambodia that illegally targeted players in Macau and mainland China.

This isn’t the first time the court has attempted to sell Chau’s assets. In July last year, five commercial properties and 31 parking spaces went on the market for MOP$600 million (US$74.6 million).

With a population of about 710K people all tucked into a land area of 12.7 square miles, Macau is the most densely populated region in the world, and parking spaces fetch premium prices.

Nevertheless, there were few takers for Chau’s portfolio. The new cut-price listing suggests just two properties were sold.

Empire Crumbles

Before his arrest in late 2021, Chau was one of Macau’s wealthiest individuals and Suncity was the biggest junket operator in the world’s biggest gambling hub. In 2014, Macau’s best year, the company was responsible for generating an estimated 25% of VIP market revenue, which would have equated to US$11 billion.

For perspective, that’s more than the gaming revenue generated by the entire state of Nevada in the same year.

But there were signs China’s central government was running out of patience with Suncity and Macau’s junket industry, which it blamed for facilitating cross-border gambling, money laundering, and capital flight.

In 2019, Beijing’s official state-run press agency accused Chau of generating billions through illegal online gambling. Criticism in the state press is often a precursor to retaliatory measures toward an individual or entity that has displeased the government. For Chau, the writing was on the wall.