{"id":246413,"date":"2022-12-05T13:46:56","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T19:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=246413"},"modified":"2022-12-05T15:35:34","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T21:35:34","slug":"levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Levo Chan, Macau Gaming Tycoon, in Court on Illegal Gambling Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gambling magnate Levo Chan<\/a> appeared in Macau\u2019s Court of First Instance on Monday for the first day of his trial on illegal gambling, fraud, and money laundering charges.<\/p>\n

\"Levo
Levo Chan, right, pictured with his girlfriend, the Taiwanese singer and actress Ady An. The former Tak Chun boss said little during his appearance at Macau\u2019s Court of First Instance on Monday. (Image: 8days)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Until his arrest in January 2022, Chan was the head of the now-defunct Tak Chun Group, formerly the second-biggest junket operator in the gambling hub.<\/p>\n

He was also the chairman and CEO of Macau Legend Development Ltd., which owns the Fisherman\u2019s Wharf entertainment complex on Macau\u2019s harbor and operates three casinos under the SJM Holdings license.<\/p>\n

Under the Table<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Macau prosecutors accuse Chan of illegal gambling, money laundering, and the formation of a criminal syndicate. They suspect him of being the head of a triad gang, an offense that alone carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.<\/p>\n

The alleged offenses are unrelated to Macau Legend\u2019s operations, and the company has appointed a new CEO, Melinda Chan, no relation, and two new chairs, Li Chu Kwan and David Chow, to replace Chan. The defendant remains the largest shareholder in the company, with 33%.<\/p>\n

\n

Prosecutors claim Chan\u2019s Tak Chun junket offered illegal \u201cunder-the-table bets\u201d to its high-rolling clients. These are private bets that involve the junket multiplying the stakes on \u201cofficial\u201d bets placed at Macau\u2019s casinos. The wagers are settled later, tax-free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In this way, Chan and Tak Chun reaped illicit gains in the US-dollar equivalent of around $200 million over the past six years while cheating Macau\u2019s government out of at least US$62 million in taxes, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n

Tak Chun is also accused of running proxy betting operations. These involve a third party placing bets at a live casino on behalf of a gambler based elsewhere. The action is typically relayed by the third party to its client in real time, often via a mobile app. The practice has been banned in Macau since 2016.<\/p>\n

Chan Tight-Lipped<\/h2>\n

Chan was the only one of nine co-defendants linked to Tak Chun present in court Monday. He spoke little, other than to confirm some personal details when addressed by the judge, Macau Business<\/em> reports. He declined to speak about the charges when given the opportunity to do so.<\/p>\n

Several former employees of the junket were called to testify and appeared to confirm the existence of multiplier and proxy betting operations.<\/p>\n

\n

Chan\u2019s arrest came two months after that of Alvin Chau<\/a> of the Suncity Group, the world\u2019s biggest gaming junket, on similar charges. Chau\u2019s trial concluded last week, and a verdict in that case is expected on January 18.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The arrests of Chan and Chau signaled a death knell for the junket industry in Macau, which had once generated 60% of casino revenues for the world\u2019s biggest gambling hub. The junkets attracted the ire of the Central Government in Beijing, which blamed them for encouraging cross-border gambling, money laundering, and capital flight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gambling magnate Levo Chan appeared in Macau\u2019s Court of First Instance on Monday for the first day of his trial on illegal gambling, fraud, and money laundering charges. Until his arrest in January 2022, Chan was the head of the now-defunct Tak Chun Group, formerly the second-biggest junket operator in the gambling hub. He was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":246414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLevo Chan, Macau Gaming Tycoon in Court on Illegal Gambling Charges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Levo Chan, former boss of Macau Legend and the Tak Chun Group junket operator begins trial on illegal gambling, money laundering charges.\" \/>\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\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Levo Chan, Macau Gaming Tycoon in Court on Illegal Gambling Charges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Levo Chan, former boss of Macau Legend and the Tak Chun Group junket operator begins trial on illegal gambling, money laundering charges.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/\" \/>\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=\"2022-12-05T19:46:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-05T21:35:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Levo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\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\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/\",\"name\":\"Levo Chan, Macau Gaming Tycoon in Court on Illegal Gambling Charges\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Levo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-05T19:46:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-05T21:35:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Levo Chan, former boss of Macau Legend and the Tak Chun Group junket operator begins trial on illegal gambling, money laundering charges.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/levo-chan-macau-gaming-tycoon-in-court-on-illegal-gambling-charges\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Levo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Levo.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Levo Chan, right, pictured with his girlfriend, the Taiwanese singer and actress Ady An. 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