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According to the Southern Metropolis Daily, Zhou Zhuohua (nicknamed "Ximihua"), the founder of Suncity Group, which once dominated Macau's gaming industry, was previously sentenced to 18 years in prison for 162 counts, including establishing and leading a criminal group. A few days ago, the Macao Intermediate Court rendered a judgment on the relevant appeal case, and Zhou Zhuohua was found guilty of serious money laundering. The sum of all charges remains at 18 years in prison.
Do not commit fraud
The 18-year prison sentence remains unchanged
According to The Paper, the Macau Intermediate Court issued a ruling on October 19, ruling that Zhou Zhuohua and others did not commit fraud and did not need to pay huge compensation; But they were convicted of serious money laundering, and Zhou Zhuohua remained in prison for 18 years. On the grounds that the group was operating illegal profits in gambling activities such as "bets", "electronic investment, and online investment", the court sentenced Zhou Zhuohua and others to jointly pay the total amount of relevant illegal gains to the Macao SAR government. Money laundering. The amount is approximately HK$25.5 billion.
On the evening of the 20th, the Office of the President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macao announced the ruling of the Criminal Collegiate Chamber of the Intermediate People's Court. Convicted suspects may still appeal the above decision to the Court of Final Appeal.
According to CCTV news reports, on January 18 this year, the lower court of the Macao Special Administrative Region sentenced Zhou Zhuohua, the founder of Suncity Group, on suspicion of illegal gambling. Most of the suspected facts in the case were ascertained, and Zhou Zhuohua was found guilty of 103 counts of "issuing a license for illegal local gambling operations" and 54 counts. He was convicted of all major fraud offences, three major fraud offences (attempt), one count of "illegal gambling" and one count of "gangster crime" and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment. He was also required to pay a total of about HK$8.6 billion in compensation to the Macau SAR government and six gaming companies for fraud.
Several other accused have also been convicted on multiple charges. Among them, the defendant Zhang Zhijian was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and the second defendant Situ Zhihao was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Zhou Zhuohua and others appealed in February, and the procuratorate also appealed the verdict.
It is understood that Zhou Zhuohua was previously charged with 289 crimes such as establishing a criminal group, illegal gambling, and money laundering. Other suspects have been accused of involvement in criminal groups and other crimes. The prosecution has more than 90 witnesses.
Based on the facts ascertained, the Macao SAR Procuratorate prosecutes the suspects in the relevant cases. The charges involved criminal syndicate crime, collusion with criminal syndicates, illegal gambling operation in licensed areas, large-scale fraud (defrauding six gaming companies and the Macao Special Administrative Region), illegal gambling operation, etc. Gambling, money laundering crimes (aggravated).
On the evening of November 26, 2021, the Wenzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a notice saying that in July 2020, the Wenzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau of Zhejiang Province opened a casino case for investigation into Zhang Ningning and others in accordance with regulations. Law. After investigation, the cross-border gambling criminal group headed by criminal suspects Zhou Zhuohua, Zhang Ningning and others was suspected of committing serious crimes by opening casinos in China.
The Judicial Police Force of the Macao SAR Government said on November 27, 2021 that it had detected a case involving criminal syndicates, illegal gambling and money laundering, and arrested 11 criminal suspects, including Zhou Zhuohua.
The Macao SAR Government issued a statement on the same day, saying that after receiving the notification from the relevant mainland departments, the Macao SAR police took Zhou and other persons involved in the case back to the police station for investigation in accordance with the law in accordance with the law that morning. Evidence obtained from previous criminal investigations. The statement also reiterated that all personnel engaged in the gaming industry in Macau must strictly abide by the relevant laws and regulations of the country and Macao. Any suspected violation of Macao laws and regulations will be prosecuted in accordance with the law and will not be tolerated.
Zhou Zhuohua is involved in many industries
According to previous reports, Zhou Zhuohua was born in Macau on May 30, 1974. According to public information, Zhou Zhuohua began to set foot in Macau's gaming industry in 1994, initially working as a "picker", also known as a "pickpocket", in casinos. "Intermediary". The main job of an "intermediary" is to accompany the gambler to exchange a loan for chips and take 10% of the bet from each bet.
The reason why Zhou Zhuohua is nicknamed "Washing Rice" is related to the Hong Kong drama "City Story". The male protagonist in the play, Liang Sihao, is nicknamed "Washing Rice". Because Zhou Zhuohua looks very similar to the male protagonist, he has the nickname "Ximihua". Digit.
According to the Beijing News, in 1995, the 21-year-old "Washed Rice" became a disciple of Macau gambling tycoon Wan Guoju, known as the "Broken Tooth Horse." In 1999, Bang Yaju was imprisoned. Xi Mihua visited him in prison many times and gradually won Yin Guoju's respect. With Yin Guoju's connections and power, Zhou Zhuohua turned to the operation and management of the casino VIP club. More than a decade later, he became the local "king of casinos".
In addition to the support of the big boss, the reason why "Washing Rice" can be famous is also because Zhou Zhuohua has found new opportunities on the Internet.
In 1998, Zhou Zhuohua took advantage of the rise of the Internet era to obtain an online game license in the Philippines. He runs the Sun City betting website, offers all kinds of gambling, and even broadcasts dealer openings live, which is very popular with gamblers.
According to people familiar with the matter, the Suncity online betting platform has been in operation for more than four years and is expected to have hundreds of thousands of members. Recently, the average monthly betting volume of Chinese mainland has reached more than 100 billion yuan, and the annual betting volume has reached trillions. Above, this figure is equivalent to nearly twice the total revenue of China's lottery in 2018 of 511.47 billion yuan.
In addition to gambling, Zhou Zhuohua is also involved in tourism, catering, finance, real estate and other industries. The Group's business has expanded overseas, covering Australia, Russia, Cambodia, the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries. With the support of diversified businesses, Zhou Zhuohua has become one of the richest people in Hong Kong and Macau. According to Global People, it is rumored that his net worth has exceeded 10 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Editor|Sun Zhicheng, Zhang Jinhe, Yi Qijiang
Proofreader|Liu Siqi
Daily economic news is extracted from Southern Metropolis Daily, The Paper, China News Agency, Beijing News, CCTV News
Daily economic news
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