Suncity illegal gambling operation processed $42 billion worth of bets from China
Gamblers in mainland China have invested the equivalent of $42 billion in online gambling sites run by former Macau junket giant Suncity Group, Chinese state media reported.
China Central Television (CCT) said on Monday the incident came to light during a three-day trial in August 2022 of employees at Sun City in the western Chinese city of Wenzhou.
Many of the company's top executives, including founder and CEO Zhou Zhuohua , have been separately indicted in Macau for illegal gambling and criminal gangs. Macau's judicial power is independent of the Chinese central government.
In January 2023, Zhou and 12 other defendants were sentenced to 18 years in prison in Macau.
Agent Army
The CCT disclosed details of the Wenzhou trial for the first time on Monday, Macau Business Daily reported. The case involved 34 defendants, among whom Zhang Ningning was sentenced to seven years in prison for managing Suncity’s assets in mainland China.
Suncity may have made about $1.2 billion in profits from $42 billion in deals with Chinese players, the court heard. Other revelations include that Zhou employed at least 283 people in mainland China when he began operating an online gaming platform in the Philippines and other countries in 2015.
Each must invest about $600,000 in the operation and meet ambitious sales targets.
In order to maximize profits, Zhou used commissions and dividends as bait to lure others to act as agents. Through these agents, he organized and lured Chinese citizens to gamble at Suncity’s casinos or engage in cross-border online gambling. "
Side Bet Fraud
In Macau, Zhou was convicted of defrauding the government of HK$8.2 billion (US$1.1 billion) in tax revenue through Suncity's illegal side betting business. It was a secret proposal by junket syndicates to increase official betting stakes among VIP customers at Macau casinos. These will later be settled tax-free.
Before his arrest in November 2021, Zhou was one of the richest and most powerful people in Macau. Suncity is the largest junket operator in the market, generating around 25% of VIP revenue in the world's largest gaming hubs.
But the signs have been on the agenda since July 19, 2019, when a financial newspaper owned by state-owned news agency Xinhua News Agency accused Suncity of making billions of dollars from an online gambling operation targeting China. The newspaper said these actions caused "huge damage" to the country's socio-economic order.
Zhou is well aware that negative mentions in state media are often a precursor to retaliation from individuals or organizations dissatisfied with the government.
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Source: www.casino.org
