China Fund News Taylor
Macau's "King of Gambling Halls" Chow Chun-wah (nicknamed "WashEd Rice") is still "caught" today.
Macau SAR Government: Chow Chun-wah is taken back to the police station for investigation
Zhou Zhuohua, the actual controller of Macau casino group Sun City and known as "Washing Rice", has recently been arrested by the Wenzhou Municipal Procuratorate on suspicion of committing the crime of opening a casino in China. On November 26, the Wenzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau publicly shouted through the official WeChat public account "Ping An Wenzhou" urging Zhou Zhuohua to surrender himself as soon as possible and strive for leniency.
At noon on November 27, the Macao SAR Government issued a statement on its official website saying that it had received a notice from the relevant departments of the mainland that Macao residents, shareholders and directors surnamed Zhou of a gaming intermediary co., Ltd. were suspected of establishing a cross-border gambling criminal group, illegally organizing Chinese citizens to gamble in overseas gambling halls contracted by them, and participating in cross-border online gambling activities, and the amount involved was particularly huge, which seriously hindered the state's social management order, and the Wenzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate decided to approve the arrest of the criminal suspect surnamed Zhou in accordance with the law. The public security organs urged him to turn himself in as soon as possible and strive for leniency.
Based on the evidence obtained in the previous criminal investigation, the Macao SAR police brought the suspect surnamed Zhou and other persons involved in the case back to the police station for investigation this morning in accordance with the law.
The Macao SAR Government reiterates that all persons engaged in the gaming industry in Macao must strictly comply with the relevant laws and regulations of the State and Macao. Acts suspected of violating the laws and regulations of Macao will also be investigated in accordance with the law and will not be tolerated. The Macao SAR Government already has a relatively complete management system for gaming intermediaries, and will strengthen the supervision of gaming intermediaries and their businesses when revising the Gaming Law to ensure the healthy and orderly development of Macao's tourism and entertainment industry.
According to the news of "Ping An Wenzhou" on November 26, in July 2020, the Public Security Bureau of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, opened a case against Zhang Ningning and others for opening a casino in accordance with the law. It has been ascertained that a cross-border gambling criminal group with criminal suspects Zhou Zhuohua, Zhang Ningning and others as the backbone is suspected of committing the crime of opening a casino in China, and the circumstances are serious. Recently, the Wenzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate approved the arrest of criminal suspect Zhou Zhuohua in accordance with the law.
The criminal suspect, Zhou Zhuohua, male, is a resident of Macao, China, a shareholder and director of Suncity Gaming Intermediaries Co., Ltd.
It was found that since 2007, Zhou Zhuohua has contracted gambling halls in casinos in Macau and other places, and opened online gambling platforms in the Philippines and other places in 2016. In order to obtain illegal benefits, Zhou Zhuohua developed domestic personnel as shareholder-level agents and gambling agents, and organized Chinese citizens to gamble in overseas gambling halls contracted by him and participated in cross-border online gambling activities by means of high credit granting, promoting gambling business, providing vehicle transportation and technical support; established asset management companies in China to provide services for gamblers to exchange assets for gambling chips, help collect gambling debts, and assist customers in cross-border fund redemption; and used illegal channels such as underground money banks to provide fund settlement services for gamblers. Gradually form a cross-border gambling criminal group headed by Zhou Zhuohua and Zhang Ningning as the backbone, with fixed personnel, clear hierarchy and a large number of people. As of July 2020, the cross-border gambling crime group headed by Zhou Zhuohua has developed a total of 199 shareholder-level agents, more than 12,000 gambling agents, and more than 80,000 gambling members in China, involving a particularly huge amount of money, which seriously hinders China's social management order.
On the basis of the facts of the crime ascertained by the public security organs, and in accordance with the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, and other legal provisions, the Wenzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate decided in accordance with law to approve the arrest of criminal suspect Zhou Zhuohua on suspicion of opening a casino. The public security organs hereby urge him to surrender himself as soon as possible and strive for leniency.
In addition, Zhang Ningning, a key member of the cross-border gambling criminal group headed by Zhou Zhuohua, and others have been prosecuted by the Wenzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate in accordance with the law for suspected crimes such as the crime of opening a casino.
818 washed mihua's jianghu past
Zhou Zhuohua, known as Wash Mihua by the Jianghu people. The same casino tycoon from the "Stacked Code Boy" runs across the capital circle and entertainment circle of Hong Kong and Macao. It controls a number of listed companies in Hong Kong, including Sun City Group, Pioneer Enterprise Group, and Empire Group Global Holdings.
Originally named Zhou Zhuohua, he engaged in "pickpocketing" work in the casino in his early years, that is, the salesman responsible for soliciting customers. Later, he was regarded by Yin Guoju (flower name "Broken Tooth Pon"),the "godfather" of the Macau gang, and accepted him as a subordinate, and also gave him a flower name, that is, washed rice.
In macau gambling halls, the pattern of washing rice is different from others. In 1998, he saw the rise of the Internet era, obtained an online gambling license in the Philippines, operated the Sun City gambling website, provided a variety of gambling, and even broadcast live bookmakers to open cards, which was very popular with gamblers.
There are a total of 6 gambling cards in Macau, one gambling card can open multiple casinos, one casino can have multiple gambling halls, and one gambling hall can also have multiple gambling tables. Additional applications for opening new casinos are also required with the Government, and similarly, even if a casino is successfully approved, a new application is required to increase the number of tables required.
In Macau, washing rice is only a small character, he is not eligible to get gambling cards and open a casino, but in several major casinos chartered a few VIP rooms, even if you can get distinguished guests, the water money deducted seven seven eight eight costs, the real pocket is limited.
The rise of WashMihua is because he knows how to keep pace with the times, sees new opportunities on the Internet, wins the online gambling licenses of the Philippines and Cambodia, and grandly launches the Sun City network platform. This network platform, which is known as "the world's top and Asia's largest", is different from the general platform, which uses high-definition cameras to transmit the table screen in real time, and the on-site licensing situation is unobstructed, and customers watch the network live broadcast synchronous betting, as if immersive.
As early as 2019, the Economic Reference Daily reported that the Philippine and Cambodian Sun City online gambling platforms (hereinafter referred to as "Sun City Internet Gambling Platforms"), controlled by the "new Asian gambling king" Zhou Zhuohua (nicknamed Wash Mihua), casinos and online servers are located abroad, and gamblers are mainly concentrated in Chinese mainland. Chinese gamblers use video to bet remotely, win or lose in a moment, and can participate in overseas gambling without leaving home.
The online gambling platform with online gambling licenses in the Philippines and Cambodia, known as "the world's top and the most credible in Asia", has penetrated deeply into the Chinese mainland, gambling funds can be settled in RMB on the mainland, and the number of participants in various provinces continues to expand. Sun City online gambling in the mainland bets more than one trillion yuan a year, equivalent to nearly twice the annual revenue of China's lottery, and its annual profit is as high as tens of billions of yuan, and these funds flow overseas through underground money banks. Experts call online gambling blooming in China the "biggest poppy", believing that it has caused great harm to China's socio-economic order and financial security, and should be highly valued by regulatory authorities.
"The gameplay of the Sun City online gambling project is almost exactly the same as that of Macau Baccarat, and the casino's guests are mainly concentrated in Chinese mainland, and hundreds of thousands of members have developed in China." Sun City promoters said that the Sun City online gambling platform is not limited by geography, the servers set up overseas are very secure, and a good reputation has been accumulated among players, and the scale is getting larger and larger, and it is now the largest online gambling platform.
Sun City online gambling platform has set up a Chinese mainland gambling capital settlement department, which collects funds and settlements through countless domestic bank cards, and finally flows most of the profits overseas through underground money banks, and its annual flow of funds overseas is as high as tens of billions of yuan.
Although casinos are far away in the Philippines and Cambodia, gamblers in Chinese mainland can simply open their computers and mobile phones to log in to their platforms and enjoy a panoramic view of the casino, including live licensing by casino dealers (dealers). After clicking to enlarge, even the "idle" and "Zhuang" placed on both sides in front of the dealer can be seen at a glance. Bet objectively watch the synchronous video scene, and bet at the same time, Sun City's electric investors call with gamblers to confirm, as if immersed.
Betting on this gambling platform, players can choose to participate in gambling such as "electric investment" or "good E investment". The former is for players to use computers or mobile phones to view the live live broadcast, through the telephone command of the Sun City electric investors at the scene to bet on behalf of; the latter is that gamblers are inconvenient to call the remote control command, you can directly watch the live synchronization video on the mobile phone, click the chips to bet.
The "electric investment" or "good E-investment" gambling method of the Sun City online gambling platform has four and six venues respectively, distributed in casinos such as Melco World and Kakawan Resort in the Philippines, as well as casinos at West Lake Resort In Cambodia; The video shows that there are at least 100 tables of Baccarat on the Sun City online gambling platform, and players can quickly switch tables.
According to people familiar with the matter, the platform recruits more than a thousand e-investers and provides one-on-one 24-hour all-weather service to online gamblers. The voice function set by its APP interface, in addition to supporting Mandarin, is also set up with personalized languages such as Cantonese and Northeast Chinese, which is almost specifically designed for the Chinese market. Gamblers on the platform are mainly concentrated in Chinese mainland, and the renminbi is the "hard currency" in casinos.
According to people familiar with the matter, the Sun City online gambling platform has been operating for more than four years, and members are estimated to have hundreds of thousands of people, and the recent average monthly betting amount from Chinese mainland is as high as more than 100 billion yuan, and the annual betting amount is more than one trillion yuan, which is equivalent to nearly twice the total revenue of China's lottery in 2018 of 511.47 billion yuan.
As soon as the report came out, the share price of Sun City Group fell by 20%, and then Sun City Gaming Intermediary One Person Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sun City Group, issued a clarification statement denying the operation of online gambling business.
In the latest video response, ChoMihua once again stressed: "Never have any colleagues been stationed in the mainland to engage in any promotion or any gaming business, nor have they ever participated in any underground money transfer business, our employees, our funds, our company, our business, are limited to Macao." ”
In addition to the family's great business, the private life of washing rice is also a topic of frequent discussion. Young Duojin, who calls himself "Macao Gu Tianle", has been rumored with many young models, as well as TVB artists. Washing Mihua's 39th birthday party is also an invitation to a large number of young models to dance. And his emotional entanglement lasted for many years, and it was impossible to say clearly.
Although it is claimed that the gaming business is not in the mainland, the film and television distribution business of Sun City Group has long been booming in the mainland.
According to the official website, Sun Entertainment & Culture Co., Ltd. has invested and produced nearly 65 films since its establishment in 2011, with a total box office of HK$13 billion. Well-known works include "Chunjiao Save Zhiming", "Casino Storm" series, "Kill the Wolf II", "Kill the Wolf, Wolf", "Wild Beast", "Mekong Operation", and "Red Sea Operation", etc., many of which have grossed billions of yuan at the box office.