{"id":206748,"date":"2022-03-25T07:46:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T14:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=206748"},"modified":"2022-03-25T10:33:49","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T17:33:49","slug":"pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philippines’ gaming regulator has suspended Suncity Group from operating junkets in the country. It’s the latest blow to a company reeling from a major global shakeup of its operations.<\/p>\n

\"Suncity
Suncity Group continues to have problems holding onto its junkets. PAGCOR in the Philippines is the latest to go after the company. (Image: GGRAsia<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Suncity Group continues to find itself on the receiving end of bad news. It is losing a tremendous amount of traction in Macau, as the city seeks to cut ties with junkets. The problem is amplified by the arrest of its former CEO<\/a>, Alvin Chau.<\/p>\n

The company now finds itself dealing with more problems. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), the Philippines’ gaming regulator and casino operator, is cutting Suncity off.<\/p>\n

Suncity Hit by Suspension in the Philippines<\/h2>\n

PAGCOR has suspended Suncity’s ability to operate junkets in the Philippines, according to GGRAsia<\/em>. Citing an email it received from the regulator, the media outlet reports that Suncity and Chau are “unsuitable to hold any authority\/license to operate a junket business” in the country.<\/p>\n

The regulator reportedly began investigating Suncity and its Suncity Group Manila subsidiary last August after receiving complaints about the company’s operations. Suncity’s treatment of deposited funds and the failure to return them to customers led to the investigation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

PAGCOR received two complaints last year that accused Suncity of potentially misappropriating money. Some 29 people included their names in the list, arguing that they were out a total of $57.9 million. PAGCOR then launched an investigation, which it concluded last month. However, it didn’t present the findings until this week.<\/p>\n

\n

In acknowledging that Suncity had gaming operations in several casinos operated by PAGCOR, including at Entertainment City in Manila, PAGCOR stated that it found evidence to support the complaints. It added, “In fact, to date, the front money deposits remain unreturned,” despite the victims seeking mediation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As a result of the investigation, Suncity must return all of the front money deposits within a month of the order. However, the ability to do so is likely becoming increasingly difficult<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Suspended, but Not Out<\/h2>\n

Suncity has one path at redemption in the Philippines if it wants to avoid a permanent revocation of its license. PAGCOR has laid out several conditions that the company must meet, and if it doesn’t, there’s no alternative than an exit from the country.<\/p>\n

\n

Returning the front money is an obvious requirement. In addition, Suncity will have to place all of its clients’ front money into a separate bank account going forward. This account cannot be used for any business operations. Additionally, Suncity cannot withdraw any money from the account unless it is going to turn it over to the client.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Suncity will also need to submit a sworn quarterly statement showing how much front money it has on deposit, along with a balance statement from the bank. A special monitoring team will oversee the reporting.<\/p>\n

If the company fails to meet the conditions, or any other conditions, such as anti-money laundering requirements, it’s game over. Suncity and Chau will be blacklisted and deemed “permanently unsuitable” to operate a junket in the Philippines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Philippines’ gaming regulator has suspended Suncity Group from operating junkets in the country. It’s the latest blow to a company reeling from a major global shakeup of its operations. Suncity Group continues to find itself on the receiving end of bad news. It is losing a tremendous amount of traction in Macau, as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":206747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,33810],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhilippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Philippines' gaming regulator has suspended Suncity Group from operating junkets in the country. It's the latest blow to a company reeling from a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Philippines' gaming regulator has suspended Suncity Group from operating junkets in the country. It's the latest blow to a company reeling from a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-25T14:46:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-25T17:33:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Suncity-Group-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"813\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"514\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erik Gibbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik Gibbs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/\",\"name\":\"Philippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Suncity-Group-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-25T14:46:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-25T17:33:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca\"},\"description\":\"The Philippines' gaming regulator has suspended Suncity Group from operating junkets in the country. It's the latest blow to a company reeling from a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Suncity-Group-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Suncity-Group-1.jpg\",\"width\":813,\"height\":514,\"caption\":\"Suncity Group continues to have problems holding onto its junkets. PAGCOR in the Philippines is the latest to go after the company. (Image: GGRAsia)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gaming Business\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-business\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Philippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca\",\"name\":\"Erik Gibbs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Erik Gibbs\"},\"description\":\"Erik Gibbs covers global gaming news for Casino.org. His scope includes Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Erik has covered gaming markets in Europe and Asia for the past six years. Erik joined Casino.org in November 2021. Erik has written for numerous gambling- and a handful of industry publications has quoted casino-related media outlets over the years and. He is always excited to bring a new perspective on what's happening in the gaming space. Erik enjoys following the global gaming industry, paying particular attention to innovation and regulation. Originally from the US, Erik has spent extensive time living in various countries across the globe. He enjoys anything that has to do with the outdoors and exploration, although he readily admits that he would have no trouble spending all day fishing on a boat. He currently resides in Spain. Contact Erik at erik.gibbs@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/erik-gibbs\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License - Casino.org","description":"The Philippines' gaming regulator has suspended Suncity Group from operating junkets in the country. It's the latest blow to a company reeling from a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Philippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License - Casino.org","og_description":"The Philippines' gaming regulator has suspended Suncity Group from operating junkets in the country. It's the latest blow to a company reeling from a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-03-25T14:46:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-25T17:33:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":813,"height":514,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Suncity-Group-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Erik Gibbs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erik Gibbs","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/","name":"Philippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License - Casino.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Suncity-Group-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-03-25T14:46:29+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-25T17:33:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca"},"description":"The Philippines' gaming regulator has suspended Suncity Group from operating junkets in the country. It's the latest blow to a company reeling from a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Suncity-Group-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Suncity-Group-1.jpg","width":813,"height":514,"caption":"Suncity Group continues to have problems holding onto its junkets. PAGCOR in the Philippines is the latest to go after the company. (Image: GGRAsia)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-suncity-group-unsuitable-for-junket-license-in-the-philippines\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gaming Business","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-business\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Philippines Gaming Regulator Nixes Suncity Junket License"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca","name":"Erik Gibbs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png","caption":"Erik Gibbs"},"description":"Erik Gibbs covers global gaming news for Casino.org. His scope includes Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Erik has covered gaming markets in Europe and Asia for the past six years. Erik joined Casino.org in November 2021. Erik has written for numerous gambling- and a handful of industry publications has quoted casino-related media outlets over the years and. He is always excited to bring a new perspective on what's happening in the gaming space. Erik enjoys following the global gaming industry, paying particular attention to innovation and regulation. Originally from the US, Erik has spent extensive time living in various countries across the globe. He enjoys anything that has to do with the outdoors and exploration, although he readily admits that he would have no trouble spending all day fishing on a boat. He currently resides in Spain. Contact Erik at erik.gibbs@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/erik-gibbs\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}