The Star Gave Billionaire Junket Boss $80M Cheque Cashing Facility
The Star gave billionaire junket boss Alvin Chau an $80 million cheque cashing facility despite solid links to triads. Authorities warned Star about Chau’s links to organised crime yet they continued accepting the billionaire junket boss’ custom.
A 2018 report labelled Suncity a threat that posed tangible criminal and reputational risks for the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Star turned a blind eye to Chau’s operation. Indeed, it gave Suncity a private gaming room and cashier’s cage.
“Alvin Chau is alleged to be a member of the Macau faction of the 14K triad society and follower of former 14K leader Wan Kuok Koi, known as “Broken Tooth Koi,” the report said.
The ongoing inquiry into The Star Sydney heard evidence from a key Star employee. Skye Arnott heads up the casino’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism procedures. Arnott admitted the billionaire junket boss “was not of good repute.” However, Arnott stated Chau’s reputation alone was not enough to warrant ending dealings with Suncity.
“I didn’t consider the source material to be relevant or helpful. I found there were things that were opinion being placed very close to things that were fact, in an effort to make them look like they should be read together. And I found that concerning.”
Billionaire Junket Boss Chau Linked to Cyberattack
Angus Buchanan wrote the report Arnott eluded to while working for the jockey club. The Star employs Buchanan as its due diligence and intelligence manager. Buchanan’s report stated the Australian Federal Police has the billionaire junket boss Chau on their radar. It alleged Suncity laundered up to $2 million per day. In addition, the report linked Chau to a cyberattack on the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Criminals stole US$101 million during the attack.
The inquiry showed some damning CCTV evidence of blatant money laundering. First, footage from April 2018 saw a Suncity employee head into the Salon 95 office carrying a black backpack. They removed many cash bundles tied with rubber bands. They fed the cash into a counter and placed the counted cash under the desk.
Another video showed similar actions, again, at Salon 95, the billionaire junket boss’ private room. CCTV footage captured in Salon 95 is overwritten every couple of days.
Arnott conceded Suncity was not using Salon 95 as it promised.
“There were concerns that those controls weren’t appropriately implemented, which is slightly different from not effectively managing the risk. That is one way to manage the risk at that time. I was very new to the compliance officer role. And I felt that I wanted t to implement the controls that we had been working on to try and mitigate the risk.”
Authorities Arrest Chau in Late November 2021
Authorities arrested billionaire junket boss Chau on November 27, 2021. They led Chau away in handcuffs and with a black hood covering his head. Chau headed straight for interrogation.
Internet search engines state film producer as Alvin Chau’s but nothing could be further from the truth. Chau is the billionaire junket boss of Suncity, although he fervently denies this. Reports put Chau’s net worth at $2 billion. Reports show he paid his former mistress $50.6 million when their affair ended.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) monitored Chau for more than three years. They discovered that Suncity not only delivered Chinese high rollers to Star and Crown Resorts but has links to the 14K triads. Chau, now 47, began working for Wan “Broken Tooth” Kuok-koi 27 years ago.
Chau operated in Australia until 2020 but shut down his empire because it became too difficult to operate. Why would you quit if your operation was legitimate?
The billionaire junket boss’ arrest caused a rippled effect. Authorities arrested him in November 27 and Suncity ceased operations in Macau on December 1.
