Disgraced junket king Alvin Chau has failed in his appeal to have his 18-year prison term reduced.
According to Macau Post Daily, the Court of Final Appeal announced yesterday that sentences on Chau – and eight others convicted with him – will remain unchanged.
Suncity Group founder Chau was sentenced to 18 years in prison in January last year after being convicted on a raft of crimes from illicit gambling activities to involvement in a criminal organisation.
[See more: Macao’s proposed gambling crimes law doesn’t go far enough, say lawyers]
He launched an appeal the following month and in December 2023 purportedly penned a bizarre open letter to President Xi Jinping, appealing for clemency. In the letter, he characterised himself as a “silent and unknown person” who helped transform a “small fishing port” into a “world centre of tourism and leisure.”
Chau and his associates have also been ordered to pay billions of patacas in compensation to Macao’s government and casino operators, but the concessionaires have reportedly written off their losses.
Chau’s case, and that of other fallen gambling personalities like Levo Chan, prompted the local government to crack down on junket operators in Macao.
