HONG KONG (Reuters). Wenzhou is a Chinese city that has issued an Arrest warrant for Alvin Chau. He was accused of running gambling businesses in China.

Suncity is Macau’s largest junket operator. It operates VIP gambling areas across Asia. Chau founded Suncity. Junket operators act as intermediaries who help high-rollers to gamble at casinos. They extend credit and collect on debts.

Outside of Macau’s special administrative region, casino gambling in China is prohibited.

According to the Wenzhou City Public Security Bureau, Friday’s investigation revealed that Chau had set up a network of junket agents in mainland China in order to facilitate citizens engaging in cross-border and offshore gambling.

Chau set up also an asset management company on the mainland in order to facilitate cross-border fund transfers for gamblers, Zhejiang province’s authority stated via its Weibo(NASDAQ:) account.

Suncity and Chau were unable to be reached via phone or email for comment.

GGRAsia, a news site on Asia’s casino industry, reported that a spokesperson from Suncity stated by email on Saturday, saying the company had contacted Chau but hadn’t received a reply.

The company was quoted as saying that it is currently “following-up on the relevant issues.” This company emphasizes the fact that all businesses normally operate within the laws and supervision of the Macau Special Administrative Region Government.

Suncity Group Holdings Ltd in Hong Kong is the publicly traded entity of Suncity. However, it does not contain its junket operations.

According to the Wenzhou authority, Chau’s “crime syndicate”, which included 199 shareholders-level agents, over 12,000 gamble agents, and more than 80,000 punters, had reached July 2020.

The security agency stated that the amount involved was “exceptionally large” and had a serious impact on our country’s social order. “The security officials urge (Chau), to surrender as soon as possible in order to obtain lenient treatment.”

Jeremy Douglas is the Southeast Asia and Pacific Representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. He told Reuters that “Chau’s arrest warrant has no doubt sent shockwaves through organized crime in Hong Kong and Macau but also Cambodia and Laos and even the Philippines.”

Douglas claimed that Suncity is a major drug trafficker and has been involved in money laundering for many decades.

Suncity has been grown by Chau, who started out operating a table for high-rollers in Wynne Macau (OTC) From a casino built in 2007, to a conglomerate that employs thousands and has businesses covering everything from autos to property.

In 2019, Suncity was singled out https://www.reuters.com/article/china-casinos-idINL4N24A13F by state-backed Chinese media which attacked online gambling for causing what it described as great harm to China’s social economic order. Suncity stated that no online gaming was being operated at the time.