Macau’s Court of Second Instance has reduced Levo Chan Weng Lin’s prison term to a total of 13 years. The former head of the defunct Tak Chun Group has been acquitted of fraud charges, overturning the earlier ruling by the Court of First Instance.
Three additional defendants in the same case have also experienced reduced sentences, while one defendant has had their prison term affirmed, according to the published ruling on Thursday.
In light of the recent verdict, the five defendants are not obligated to make any compensation payments to the Macau government and the city’s casino operators for the fraud charges.
However, the Court of Second Instance has mandated the payment of around HK$2.49 billion ($318.9 million) to the Macau government as compensation for profits derived from “illicit gambling” operations.
In April of last year, a Macau court sentenced the top junket boss, Levo Chan, to 14 years in prison after finding him guilty of 34 charges, including enabling and operating illegal gaming and criminal association.
The latest verdict maintains charges of criminal association, illicit gambling, and money laundering.
Levo Chan was the chairman of Macau’s Tak Chun Group, the second-largest junket in the city, which brokered the gambling activity of Chinese high rollers until January 2022 when he was arrested in Macau.
