Prominent Macau junket figure Cheung Chi-tai has been put under arrest after a lengthy money laundering investigation. Mr. Cheung has been suspected of laundering about HK$1.8 billion (US$232.2 million) via his bank accounts in Hong Kong.
Mr. Cheung is known to have been a major shareholder in the Neptune Group, one of the biggest and most popular junket operators in Macau. In 2007, he owned a 12.9% stake in the aforementioned company. However, according to filings of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, he was no longer a major stake holder in the junket operator as of September 2008. The businessman is currently facing three different money laundering charges.
Reportedly, he was seen entering the Wanchai police station with his lawyer on Monday and was detained until Wednesday, when he appeared before the Hong Kong Eastern Court. The case is to be reviewed once again on September 24. As for the defendant, he was released on bail of HK$200,000.
Mr. Cheung, who currently resides in one of Hong Kong’s most expensive neighborhoods, was found to have been involved in transactions of an indictable offense. Furthermore, it seems that the Chong Hing Bank and the Bank of China were the institutions where the defendant deposited the investigated proceeds. The two financial entities could not be reached for an immediate comment.
A spokesperson for the Neptune Group said that Mr. Cheung had been a major shareholder in the junket operator, but is no longer linked to it.
The investigation of Mr. Cheung’s activities was launched by the Hong Kong police in December 2014. As mentioned above, it resulted in at least three charges against the businessman. According to the first charge, he deposited HK$828,509,955.30 into his account in the Bank of China between January 2, 2004 and May 4, 2010.
Charge number two suggests that Mr. Cheung deposited HK$951,154,573.70 between January 2, 2004 and May 31, 2010 into his account in the Bank of China.
According to the third charge, the businessman deposited HK$11,095,574.04 into his Chong Hing Bank account. It seems that he was fully or partially aware that those transactions represented either directly or indirectly indictable offense proceeds.
It is interesting to note that Hong Kong enacted its serious crimes law in 1995. Under it, the local police has the right to delve more thoroughly into illegal matters, and local courts are given the authority to additionally extend the duration of a convicted person’s sentence.
