However, despite the ruling, the court raised compensation Chow and other suspects owed to the Macau government for illegal gaming crimes and money laundering, which amounted to nearly HK$25 billion, or $3.2 billion. 온라인경마

Alvin Chow, dubbed the aforementioned Macau “junket king,” was convicted in January this year of about 290 criminal offences related to illegal gambling and organized crime. In particular, Chow was convicted and sentenced to up to 18 years in prison, and ordered to pay more than HK$8.6 billion in compensation to five game concessions and the Macau government.

In addition, during this period, Chow and 20 other suspects were determined to pay HK$6.52 billion ($833 million) in direct compensation to the Macau government for their participation in “illegal” activities, which resulted in the loss of tax revenue during the periods 2014 and 2021. But at the same time, the five gaming companies in the gaming centre were eligible for reparations in excess of HK$2.15 billion, $275 million, excluding Melco Resorts.

Then, in the short time since his first ruling, prosecutors filed an appeal extending his sentence to a total of 21 years and six months. However, in a recent verdict, the court decided to release game operators and the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) any compensation related to the presumption of fraud from their obligations.

Finally, the court sentenced Chow to 18 years in prison without reducing his sentence for criminal conspiracy and illegal gambling, and also sentenced the former junket tycoon to HK$6.5 billion, or US$831 million in bail.

The sentence was reduced from 15 years to 12 years and six months for the other four suspects.

The court’s other important decision is that it ordered the “freezing” of Chow’s bank accounts, property holdings and additional assets cited in the MP report, widely known as Sawalana Limited, officially registered in the UK capital. In connection with this, in compliance with the information found in the court’s statement, “Defendants have the option to appeal this decision to the final court of appeal.”