‘Tak Chun Not Triad:’ Levo Chan Defiant as Trial Wraps

An emotional Levo Chan denied that his former company, the Tak Chun Group, was a triad organization in a Macau courtroom Wednesday. He also apologized to staff members whose lives had been wedged past his tryout on charges of illegal gambling, money laundering, and the formation of a felonious syndicate.

As chairman and CEO of Tak Chun, Macau’s 2d biggest junket operator, Chan was, until his January 2022 arrest, a powerful fig inward Macau’s gaming industry.

He and his octad codefendants are accused of offering illegal under-the-table gambling which prosecutors claim defrauded the Macau governance out of at to the lowest degree US$62 one thousand thousand inwards taxes.

The royal court heard closing arguments in the three-month tryout Wednesday. group A verdict is expected April 21. Chan denies the charges.

Tak Chun is non a triad mathematical group and has contributed to the gaming manufacture in Macau over the years,” Chan told the court, as reported past Inside Asian Gaming. “I wouldn’t say that Tak Chun has contributed massively to Macau’s bon ton and economy, but for to a greater extent than a decade, the Macau gaming manufacture has contributed to the society and economy, and Tak Chun has helped in that.

“All of us at Tak Chun are committed to the community,” he added.

Wiretap Evidence

Earlier in the trial, the royal court heard wiretap grounds from 2018 and 2019 that prosecutors claimed recorded Chan approbative under-the-table betting to an unidentified employee.

These were allegedly “multiplier bets,” common soldier wagers with high-rolling clients that mired Tak Chun multiplying the stakes on “official” bets placed at Macau’s casinos. These were settled later, tax-free, according to prosecutors.

There is … no reason to trust Tak Chun carried come out these illicit activities as it had stable and considerable income,” Leong Hon Man, Chan’s lawyer, said inwards closure arguments.

Investigators from Macau’s judiciary law testified Tak Chun produced intragroup preparation manuals advising faculty how under-the-table betting could live ordered for gamblers.

Innocent Workers

Chan defended the former employees of the now-defunct junkets whom he described as “innocent hard workers.”

“Many of them are the breadwinners of their families, the dutiful children of their parents,” he said. “The faculty who joined Tak Chun were not triad members. During the trial, I infer that their families experience been below a lot of pressure, and i really finger sorry for them. i am sorry to them.”

In January, Alvin Chau, head of Macau’s biggest junket, Suncity, was sentenced to 18 years inward prison house after being convicted of charges that are real similar to Chan’s.