According to Hong Kong media reports on the 21st, Zhou Zhuohua, the founder of Macau Suncity Group, nicknamed "Ximihua", was recently found not guilty of fraud, but was convicted of aggravating the crime of money laundering and maintained an 18-year sentence.
Hong Kong media reported that Zhou Zhuohua was charged with a total of 289 counts of founding and directing a criminal group and money laundering. On January 18 this year, the Macau Primary Court found Zhou Zhuohua guilty of 162 counts of founding and leading a criminal syndicate, illegally operating gambling, etc., sentenced him to 18 years in prison, and had to pay a total of about HK$8.6 billion in compensation to the Macao SAR government and six gaming enterprises for fraud. Zhou Zhuohua and others appealed in February, and the procuratorate appealed against the verdict.
According to reports, the Macao Intermediate Court issued a ruling on the 19th, ruling that Zhou Zhuohua and others were not convicted of fraud and did not need to pay huge compensation; However, the sentence was commuted to aggravated the crime of money laundering, and Zhou Zhuohua still maintained his 18-year sentence. The court sentenced Zhou Zhuohua and others to pay the Macao SAR Government the sum of the relevant illegal gains, amounting to about HK$25.5 billion, on the basis of the group's improper profits in the operation of "gambling bottom", "power investment, online investment" and other gaming activities, as well as the illegal benefits obtained in money laundering.
The Office of the President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macao announced on the evening of the 20th that the criminal collegial panel of the Intermediate Court ruled that all convicted suspects can still appeal the above ruling to the Court of Final Appeal.
A little more news
Who is Zhou Zhuohua?
On November 26, 2021, Macau gambling tycoon Zhou Zhuohua was arrested with the approval of the Wenzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate in Zhejiang Province, and the Wenzhou police issued a notice urging Zhou Zhuohua to turn himself in as soon as possible and strive for leniency. The Macao SAR government said the next day that based on the evidence obtained from the previous criminal investigation, the SAR police brought the suspect surnamed Zhou and other persons involved in the case back to the police station for investigation in accordance with the law.
In May 2022, the Macau SAR Procuratorate filed a complaint against 21 people, including Zhou Zhuohua, according to the Macao Daily News.
According to the Wenzhou police report, Zhou Zhuohua is a resident of Macao, China, and a shareholder and director of Macau Suncity Gaming Intermediary Co., Ltd.
Zhou Zhuohua (nicknamed "Ximihua"). Image source: Suncity Group official website.
According to China Fund News, Zhou Zhuohua worked as a "pickpocket" in casinos in his early years, that is, a salesman in charge of soliciting customers, and was later favored by Yin Guoju (flower name "Broken Tooth") and accepted as a subordinate.
Opening a gambling hall in Macau, Ximihua's model is different from others. Macau has a total of 6 gambling cards, one gambling card can open multiple casinos, a casino can have multiple casinos, and a gambling hall can also have multiple tables. Zhou Zhuohua is not qualified to get a gambling license and open a casino, and he can rise because he sees new opportunities on the Internet.
He won online gambling licenses in the Philippines and Cambodia and launched the Sun City online platform. This online platform, which is known as "the world's top and Asia's largest", is different from ordinary platforms, which uses high-definition cameras to transmit table images in real time, and the live card handling situation is at a glance, and customers watch the online live broadcast to place bets synchronously, as if they were in the scene.
In 2007, Zhou Zhuohua founded Suncity Group, and according to the group's official website, its business also involves resorts, catering, film and television, finance, etc.
Is business limited to Macau?
As early as July 2019, the Economic Information Daily exposed that the online gambling platforms in the Philippines and Cambodia, controlled by Zhou Zhuohua, have penetrated deeply into the Chinese mainland, and gambling funds can be settled in RMB in the mainland, with gamblers in various provinces, and the scale and number of people continue to expand.
The report mentioned that "Suncity online gambling in the mainland annual bet amount is more than one trillion yuan, equivalent to nearly twice the annual revenue of China's lottery, and its annual profit is as high as tens of billions of yuan, these funds flow overseas through underground banks." ”
Subsequently, Suncity Group issued a "clarification statement" on Weiwei, saying that it was legally engaged in gaming junket business and did not operate any online gambling business.
Image source: Screenshot of Suncity Group official micro.
In July 2020, Zhou Zhuohua said in another clarification video, "We have never sent any colleagues to engage in any promotion or gaming business in the mainland, nor have we ever participated in any underground fund transfer business, and our employees, our funds, our company, and our business are all limited to Macau." ”
Source: Video screenshot.
However, the police report refuted his claims. On November 26, 2021, the Wenzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a case report showing 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 seek illegal profits, Zhou Zhuohua developed domestic personnel as shareholders-level agents and gambling agents, and organized Chinese citizens to gamble in overseas gambling halls contracted by him and participate in cross-border online gambling activities through methods and means such as granting high credit, promoting gambling business, providing vehicle pick-up service and technical support; Set up an asset management company in China to provide services for gamblers to exchange assets for gambling chips, help collect gambling debts, and assist customers in cross-border fund payment; Using illegal channels such as underground money banks to provide fund settlement services for gamblers, and gradually forming a cross-border gambling criminal group headed by Zhou Zhuohua, Zhang Ningning and others as the backbone, with fixed personnel, clear levels and a large number of people. As of July 2020, the cross-border gambling criminal 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 gambler members in China.
The Macao SAR Government has spoken out that gaming operators must strictly abide by the law
On 27 November 2021, the Macao SAR Government issued a document stressing that gaming practitioners must strictly abide by the law.
The Macao SAR Government reiterates that all persons engaged in the gaming industry in Macao must strictly abide by the relevant laws and regulations of the State and the Macao SAR. Suspected violations of the laws and regulations of the Macao SAR will also be prosecuted in accordance with the law and will not be tolerated.
Image source: Macao SAR Government Portal.
The Macao SAR Government also stated that the Macao SAR Government has a relatively complete management system for gaming junkets and will strengthen the supervision of gaming junkets and their businesses when amending the Gaming Law to ensure the healthy and orderly development of Macao's tourism and entertainment industry.