Under the pressure of Chinese President Xi Jinping, local authorities have embarked on a repression campaign against money laundering.
Le Monde with AFP
A Macao casinos magnat was arrested on Sunday, January 30, two months after his most powerful rival, a new Chinese authority tour against a sector that breasted billions of dollars every year.
Chan Wen-Ling is the founder of Tak Chun Group, the second largest “junket” of Macao. A “junket” is an intermediary that facilitates the arrival in the Macao casinos of the players by serving them both tour operator and lender. Mr. Chan is also the boss of the Macau Legend Development Hotels and Casinos, whose actions on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dropped by almost 30%, Monday, after the announcement of the arrest.
In November, Alvin Chau, boss of the biggest “junket” of Macao, Sun City, had also been arrested by the police of the territory. He is accused, with ten other leaders of his group, to have mounted an illegal platform for online money games in the Philippines and have attracted Chinese customers.
Suspicions of Collaboration between the two rivals
m. Chan was arrested for facts in connection with those who are reproached to Mr. Chau, Macao police said at a press conference. “Even if both transactions target two different groups, we have enough evidence to demonstrate that they collaborate,” she said.
Macao, former Portuguese colony, is the only place in China where the game is allowed and has the largest casino gathering in the world. The vast majority of players come from mainland China, from where they are brought by the “junkets” like Suncity and Tak Chun.