Macau Legend shares plunge 30 per cent after its CEO is arrested
Police in Macau have arrested two men including Chan Weng Lin, CEO of Macau Legend Development which runs Landmark Macau, Babylon Casino and Legend Palace Casino in Macau, over alleged money laundering and illegal gambling. The move comes after the arrest in November of high-profile Macau gambling executive Alvin Chau, chairman of Macau’s biggest junket operator Suncity, cracking down on alleged money laundering and illegal cross-border gambling.
Gambling is illegal in mGambling is illegal in mainland China but is allowed in Macau, popularly known as the “Vegas of the East”, with a Sino-Portuguese heritage, a small narrow peninsula projecting from the mainland province of Guangdong, including islands of Taipa and Coloane, with a population of 684, 200, located on China’s southern coast, on the western side of the Pearl River estuary, which like Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Macau, which is UNESCO-recognised the territory’s wealth of historical attraction churches, gardens, old cementaries, colonial buildings and cobbled backstreets, hilltop forts, cathedral ruins, Buddihist temples, Cantonese markets, Portuguese cafes, also has a warren-like A-Ma Temple dating back to the 15th century, and the Senado Square which is very attractive.
Macau Legend Development said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, “The Board of the view that as the Group is operated by a team of management personnel and the above incident relates to the personal affairs of Mr Chan and not related to the Group. The Board does not expect the above incident to have a material adverse impact on the daily operations of the Group”.
Macau casino shares fall sharply after weekend arrests including as much as 30 per cent plunge in share prices in Macau Legend Development. Mr Chan is also the chairman of Tak Chun Group, which organises “junkets”, or trips to casinos for wealthy gamblers.