Alvin Chau
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Alvin Chau Cheok-wa | |
|---|---|
| 周焯華 | |
 | |
| Born | May 30, 1974 Macau |
| Other name | Sai Mai-wa |
| Occupation | Businessman/mafia |
| Spouses |
Heidi Chan (m. 2002) |
| Partner | Mandy Lau (2014-2019) |
| Children | 7 |
Alvin Chau Cheok-wa[1] (Chinese: 周焯華; Jyutping: zau1 coek3 waa4), nicknamed Sai Mai-wa (Chinese: 洗米華; lit. 'wash rice Wah'), is a Macanese-born businessman and founder of Suncity Group.
Career
[edit]Chau is the founder and CEO of Suncity, the largest junket operator in Macau.[2]: 303 At times, the company controlled almost 50% of the VIP gaming business in Macau.[2]: 303
Chau is a former member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's Guangdong Provincial Committee.
Prosecution
[edit]On November 28, 2021, Chau was arrested on a warrant issued by the city of Wenzhou.[2]: 302 The arrest warrant was based on allegations of illegal cross-border casino operations and money laundering.[2]: 302 Along with Chau, ten alleged accomplices were arrested.[2]: 302 Within a week of Chau's arrest, Suncity closed all of its VIP rooms in Macau.[2]: 302
He was convicted in January 2023 of leading a criminal syndicate, and running illegal gambling and fraud operations, and sentenced to 18 years in prison.[3][4][5][6]
Law enforcement authorities around the world have continued to uncover Chau's vast connections to some of southeast Asia's most prolific drug trafficking and cyber-enabled fraud networks, among other criminal groups, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.[7]
References
[edit]- ↑ Ng, Kang-chung; Lam, Jeffie (2021-11-28). "Macau police arrest casino junket boss Alvin Chau, 10 others over alleged gambling offences". 南華早報. Archived from the original on 2022-02-19. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Simpson, Tim (2023). Betting on Macau: Casino Capitalism and China's Consumer Revolution. Globalization and Community series. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-5179-0031-1.
- ↑ "創立及領導犯罪集團等罪成 太陽城前主席周焯華判監18年". 東方日報. Yahoo. 2023-01-18. Archived from the original on 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ↑ "周焯華旗下太陽國際蝕6073萬". 2018-06-26. Archived from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ↑ "【洗米華】太陽世紀：改名後擬注入太陽城集團業務". 2017-03-31. Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ↑ "周焯華判監18年 逾百項控罪罪成、加重清洗黑錢罪不成立". 香港經濟日報. 2023-01-18. Archived from the original on 2023-01-18. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ↑ Transnational Organized Crime and the Convergence of Cyber-Enabled Fraud, Underground Banking and Technological Innovation in Southeast Asia: A Shifting Threat Landscape, UNODC, October 2024. https://www.unodc.org/roseap/uploads/documents/Publications/2024/TOC_Convergence_Report_2024.pdf