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Summary
- Macau Legend share prices drop by nearly 20 percent
- Prices dip after largest shareholder arrested for criminal ties
- Junket operators in Macau continue to shrink
China continues to crackdown on junket operators in Macau to send a strong message to the gambling market that cross-border gambling and luring high stakes gamblers from the Mainland will no longer be accepted.
China made this clear with the arrest of Alvin Chau Cheok Wa in Nov 2021.
Alvin Chau was the head of Suncity Group, the biggest junket operator in Macau. He was arrested and detained for criminal ties and his arrest rocked Macau’s junket operations. China has now arrested Levo Chan Weng Lin who has strong ties to the junket market in Macau and owned a junket company called Tak Chun. He is also the biggest shareholder in Macau Legend Development Ltd.
Share Prices Dip By Nearly 20 Percent
When news broke of Levo Chan’s arrest, it sent a shockwave through Macau’s dwindling junket industry and caused the share prices of Macau Legend to drop by nearly 20 percent on 31 Jan. Apart from being the company’s biggest stakeholder, Chan also served as the chairman and CEO.
He tendered his resignation immediately after his arrest in order to distance himself from Macau Legend and in the interest of other shareholders. Macau Legend was also quick to release a statement and clarify that the company was owned and managed by a group of shareholders and not Levo Chan. The statement said the arrest of Levo Chan was due to his personal affairs and had nothing to do with the operations of the company.
Levo Chan Had Ties To Criminal Syndicate
Macau’s Public Prosecutions Office released a statement and said that Levo Chan was arrested as he was suspected of having times to a criminal syndicate.
He was arrested on four charges which include running an illegal gambling operation which has a 3 year penalty, illegal running of a gambling operation at a casino which also has a 3 year penalty, being associated with a criminal syndicate which has a 15 year penalty and having ties to money laundering activities which has an 8 year penalty.
His illegal gambling activities include helping high rollers carry out under the table betting at Macau’s casinos. He has now been detained and put in pre-trial arrest.
