Key Crown junket partner blocked from Australia

The head of Crown Resorts' major junket partner, Suncity, has been banned from entering Australia as investigators across the region probe the Macau-based company's alleged links to organised crime.

Suncity chief executive Alvin Chau has been blocked by Home Affairs from entering the country, according to official sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. But Crown Resorts is still allowing the junket to host its own high-roller gaming room inside Crown Casino Melbourne.

Suncity, the biggest junket operator in Macau, also provides VIP gambling tours to casinos run by Crown's rival, The Star.

Alvin Chau, founder and chairman of Suncity Group Holdings.Credit: Bloomberg

Leaked reports from the the Hong Kong Jockey Club reveal club officials were briefed by "Australian Law Enforcement" in May 2017 about their concerns about Mr Chau. Among the concerns was suspected "large-scale money laundering activities".

The report also states that "Suncity Group's controlling entities ... [including] Alvin Chau ... pose tangible criminal and reputational risks to the [Hong Kong Jockey] club and indeed racing integrity in Hong Kong."

"Suncity key personalities have demonstrated links to numerous triad societies and organised crime figures," said the intelligence report, adding that Mr Chau and a colleague were reportedly members of the 14K triad society.

"Other Suncity entities are connected to known triad figures," it found.

In response to the allegations about Suncity and Mr Chau, a spokeswoman for Suncity, Maggie Tang, said: "Suncity Group started to cooperate with Crown since 2014, and we are now operating one VIP Club in Crown Melbourne. "

"Suncity offers VIP services such as transportation and accommodation arrangement to our guests who would like to travel to Melbourne, and Crown Melbourne."

"In regards to your other questions, Suncity Group will not comment since they involve private and personal matters of Mr Alvin Chau."

Asked about its ongoing association with Suncity, a Crown spokesperson declined to answer specific questions.

The spokesperson also declined to respond to a statement released on Wednesday by Australia's top criminal intelligence official, Mike Phelan, of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission about the grave organised crime risks associated with high-roller junket operations inside Australian casinos.

"Given the unbalanced and disgraceful reporting by Nine/Fairfax [sic] and the unjustified attack on the integrity of Crown and, by association, its directors, officers and staff, Crown will not be responding," the spokesperson said.

Crown on Wednesday issued a statement in the form of an advertisement saying reporting by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes was "unbalanced and sensationalised" and based on "exaggerations unsupported connections and outright falsehoods".

Corporate records show high-stakes gamblers recruited through Suncity laid down more than $2.3 billion at Crown Resorts' Melbourne and Perth casinos in the space of three months during 2015.

Mr Phelan revealed the ACIC's ongoing special investigation was targeting junket operators in Australian casinos. That inquiry is certain to be examining Crown's junkets, as well as those of other Australian casinos.

According to the Hong Kong Jockey Club's intelligence report, obtained by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, Mr Chau received $403,000 placed into his account at The Star casino in Sydney from a suspected money-launderer in 2012.

The Star on Thursday confirmed it deals with junket operators and had done so for more than 10 years but it would not discuss individuals or groups. In a statement, The Star said it had not been contacted by ACIC about its casino junkets investigation.

'A terrific partner'

In a push to ramp up its so-called "international VIP" gaming revenue, Crown Resorts executives in 2014 began executing a wide-ranging strategy to bolster ties with Suncity, which recruits cashed-up punters to casinos in Australia and around the world, documents show.

Like many major casino operators, Crown circumvents strict Chinese laws prohibiting the flow of large sums of money out of mainland China by using junket operators such as Suncity as the middle men to bring over the high-stakes gamblers, extend them interest-free loans and then collect the money they owe.

"Suncity is currently the largest junket group in Macau and is becoming the dominant player in the landscape," Crown's head of international marketing, Michael Chen, said in a staff memo of January 27, 2014.

"Their aggressive approach, premium brand boosting and service orientation make them a terrific partner for Crown."

Corporate records show high-stakes gamblers recruited through Suncity laid down more than $2.3 billion at Crown Resorts' Melbourne and Perth casinos in the space of three months during 2015.

Inside Crown's flagship casino in Melbourne's Southbank, in early 2014, Suncity was given its own VIP club off the atrium VIP elevator lobby.

"It is a permanent salon and will remain so as long as the junket meets its minimum monthly turnover numbers," Mr Chen said in an email. "This is just one of a wide range of initiatives that we are working with Suncity on. We view the Suncity relationship to be very strategic with mutual strengths that benefit both parties."

Other emails between sent between Mr Chen and Crown's VIP staff discuss arranging for free alcoholic drinks and concert tickets for Suncity's high-roller gamblers, and arrangements for a private jet for Suncity chair Mr Chau, who was himself a high-stakes gambler at Crown.

Crown casino in Melbourne.Credit: AAP

In an email from September 2014 Mr Chen said he would write to the Australian consulate to seek a fast-tracked process for Suncity clients to obtain visas.

"I will be asking the consulate to give these [applications] special and prompt attention," Mr Chen said.

In November 2015, Crown's then vice president for sales acceleration, Ari Lee, outlined a new pilot program of scheduled roadshows around China between Crown Resorts and Suncity.

"The long-term potential is incredibly exciting: something like this happens every six weeks and we use them like a weapon to break into new territories and markets. Do we feel we have no connections in Jiangsu? Tianjin? Changchun? Eventually we can schedule roadshows there with their help."

A spokeswoman for Home Affairs declined comment on Mr Chau's visa status, saying the department "does not comment on individual cases".

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