A stakeholder in one of the biggest junket operations in Macau was arrested in Hong Kong in connection with an investigation into money laundering and other illegal activities that is believed to be linked to the Carson Yeung trial.
Yeung, part-owner of England’s Birmingham City Football Club, was sentenced by a Hong Kong court earlier this month to six years in prison for laundering money tied to five bank accounts totaling HK$721 million (US$93 million).
Focusing on money coming in and out of Yeung’s accounts, prosecutors cited 436 deposits, including pay-to-cash checks for HK$72 million, from Macau casino operator SJM. At this trial, Yeung described the cash as winnings from his frequent trips to play baccarat.
Prosecutors also said a portion of these sums was derived through his involvement as an investor and customer of junket operator Neptune Group, and the person arrested was reported in the English-language Macau Daily Times, citing an anonymous source, to be a Neptune shareholder with “close” ties to the company’s owners. The source said HK$200 million in cash was seized from the suspect’s apartment.
