The Macau SAR Court of Final Appeal has issued a decisive ruling regarding the appeal filed by the defendants in the Tak Chun Group case, maintaining the 13-year prison sentence for Levo Chan, the former president of the VIP gaming junket.
However, the court has reduced the total compensation to be paid to the Macau SAR by the defendants to approximately MOP1.8 billion ($240 million).
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 a case similar to the one that befell the city’s top junket Suncity Group.
In April of last year, a Macau court sentenced the Levo Chan to 14 years in prison after finding him guilty of 34 charges, including enabling and operating illegal gaming and criminal association.
Then on January 11th of this year, the Court of Second Instance (TSI) acquitted Chan and four other defendants of significant fraud charges but upheld their convictions for organized crime, illegal gambling operations, and money laundering.
The five defendants — Levo Chan Wing-lun, Wong Pui Keng, Cheong Sao Pek, Lio Weng Hang, and Lee Tat Chuen — received sentences of 13 years, 9 years, 9 years, 10 years, and 7 years in prison, respectively. Initially, they were ordered to pay a total of MOP2.4 billion ($299.6 million) in losses to the Macau SAR.
Following this, both the Public Prosecution and the defendants appealed to the Court of Final Appeal (TUI in its Portuguese acronym), which delivered its judgment on November 28th.
After reviewing the grounds for the appeals, the TUI concluded that neither the prosecution’s nor the defendants’ appeals had merit, thereby upholding the criminal sentences. Consequently, the sentences for Levo Chan and his co-defendants remain unchanged.
In a significant adjustment, the TUI reduced the amount of compensation to be paid. The court ordered the defendants to collectively pay around MOP1.63 billion ($199.7 million) to the government, down from the previous ruling of over MOP2.49 billion ($312.1 million).
Additionally, Chan, Wong, and Lio were each required to pay an extra MOP201 million ($25 million).
The initial compensation set by the Court of First Instance was MOP575 million ($71.7 million), with an additional MOP204 million ($25.4 million) owed to five casino concessionaires. The latest ruling reflects a substantial reduction in the financial penalties assessed against the defendants.
Overall, this ruling concludes a lengthy judicial process regarding one of Macau’s most high-profile criminal cases involving the previously dominant VIP junket business.
