Links between jailed billionaire and clubs' betting partners

The are facing calls from MPs to investigate links between a recently jailed Chinese billionaire with ties to criminal triad gangs, and a British tech company working with many clubs’ Asian betting partners.

Alvin Chau, 48, was sentenced to 18 years in prison last Wednesday in Macau, , after being found guilty of more than 100 charges relating to organised and illegal gambling activity exceeding £85.7billion.

An investigation by this newspaper has found links between the Isle of Man-based firm, TGP, which runs betting brand websites and provides all of them with their UK betting licences, and Chau. Prior to his arrest in 2021 he controlled a sprawling gambling empire under various ‘SunCity’ brands.

TGP’s nominal HQ is based above a low-profile betting shop in Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man. Among dozens of betting brands, TGP works with eight Asian-facing betting brands who together have partnerships with 10 Premier League clubs.

TGP has also licensed and provided websites for defunct brands that formerly worked with Premier League clubs, such as 138.com, and brands that partnered with PL clubs but no longer do, such as HTH Bet, a former sponsor of Manchester United.

There is no suggestion any of the clubs or those brands knew of any potential link between Chau and TGP. But our investigation raises serious questions about the circumstances in which the clubs receive millions of pounds from such betting sponsors, and how the sector is regulated.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Gambling Harm has told the MoS they will launch an inquiry unless the Premier League and the Gambling Commission, which regulates TGP, provide satisfactory answers about these apparent links.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the APPG vice-chair, said: ‘The reputational harm to the EPL, which has been a global success story, is considerable and this risk is not to be taken lightly.

‘The APPG are particularly concerned about the nature of the relationship between the Isle of Man company TGP that provides the UK Gambling Commission licence for these brands, 138.com and SunCity, whose founder and controlling shareholder Alvin Chau has been sentenced for serious crimes in China and stands accused in an Australian Parliamentary inquiry of associating with known triads.

‘The APPG would call on the Gambling Commission, the Premier League, the clubs and also TGP itself to explain the nature of these links and if we are not satisfied with the explanation, we will be holding an inquiry.’

The call follows an investigation by The Mail on Sunday into Asian brands’ growing visibility in English football, where their adverts and messaging are almost unavoidable at any top-flight match.

Asian betting brands frequently advertise in Chinese, including on the hoardings at Premier League games which are watched worldwide. While some ads are legitimately directed at Chinese expats, concerns have been raised that brands may be using their relationships with Premier League teams to appeal to customers in China, where gambling is illegal. 

Sir Iain added: ‘Is it appropriate for these online brands to be using EPL clubs, shirts and grounds, to be advertised in jurisdictions, such as China, where gambling is illegal? And what kind of message does this send to people in the UK, including supporters of all ages, about gambling?

There is no suggestion TGP is involved in illegal activity but the ultimate beneficial ownership of the firm is not possible to identify from public records.

TGP currently provides betting licences and website services for Arsenal and Southampton’s betting partner Sportsbet.io, for Aston Villa’s partners BK8 and Kaiyun Sports; and for Manchester City’s Asian betting partner, 8xBet.

Everton are sponsored by TGP-assisted stake.uk.com, while other TGP-powered brands include Fun88, commercially tied to Tottenham and Newcastle, Leeds’s main sponsor SBOTOP, Crystal Palace’s partner Bk8, and Wolves’ partner brand 12bet.uk.

The Gambling Commission admit they do not have the power to force companies to reveal the beneficial owners behind trusts registered in domains such as Jersey, as is the case with TGP, although they insist they carry find out appropriate due diligence before issuing a licence.

TGP Europe, which is licensed by the Gambling Commission, is part of a network of related Manx companies including TGP Holdings and Xela Holdings, but its ultimate ownership is unknown. Its CEO is Manx-based Garth Kimber, who lives in a seaside mansion boasting a tower and stunning views. In 2013 Newcastle United posted a picture of him alongside Newcastle players to announce a deal with 138.com, with Kimber billed as ‘138.com chief executive officer’.

But in the same year evidence emerged of a more controversial link to Chau’s SunCity empire.

The trade magazine Gaming Intelligence noted Kimber had become CEO of Xela Holdings, TGP’s parent company, saying Xela was ‘the online arm of Macau’s leading VIP junket operators, SunCity’. The following year a sports betting company, SB Tech, noted it had signed a deal with ‘TGP Europe, [which] is owned by TGP Holdings, part of the SunCity Group, the largest provider of live casinos in Asia’.

The MoS has also spoken to a former 138.com commercial director, Daniel Stracey, who confirmed that 138 and its predecessor, 138SunGame, were ultimately owned by Chau’s SunCity. The 138 brand in all its forms is now defunct.

These links suggest those controlling SunCity, including Chau, were also controlling Xela and TGP from around 2012, but there has been little public indication of the nature of the relationship in recent years, since Chau came under serious scrutiny from China’s legal authorities.

SunCity was set up by Chau in 2007 to attract high rollers to casinos in Macau, the former Portuguese colony which is China’s only territory where gambling is legal.

So-called ‘junket operators’ such as SunCity provide credit as well as luxury accommodation to gamblers. SunCity’s extraordinary success led to a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange and Chau rapidly became a staple of local newspapers for his rise in business and his colourful private life.

But in February 2021 a report was published by an Australian judge, Patricia Bergin, for the New South Wales Parliament on corruption in Australian gambling circles. It stated: ‘There were clearly links between Mr Chau, SunCity and organised crime groups.’ She added it was ‘probable’ that Chau had ‘continued his associations with members of triad groups’.

In November 2021 Chau was arrested in Macau after China’s Public Security Bureau said he ‘had formed a cross-border criminal group’ and set up overseas gambling operations illegally targeting Chinese gamblers.

The HK-listed SunCity Group Holdings, rebranded as LET Group Holdings since Chau’s arrest, denied it was ‘related’ to TGP but would not comment on another arm of Chau’s empire, the privately owned Sun City Gaming Promotion (SCGP), based in Macau.

It also pointed out that Chau had stepped down as chairman of the listed company and was no longer a shareholder. Chau closed down SCGP last year after his arrest.

His conviction, however, raises uncomfortable questions for TGP, its brands, the Gambling Commission and the Premier League clubs that have been happy to take the huge sponsorship deals on offer despite the opaque nature of industry.

One long-time industry insider claimed that the Asian-facing betting brands in partnership with Premier League clubs who use TGP to build and run their UK-facing websites ‘are not actually much interested in UK customers using their sites’.

Instead, said the source, they are interested in using TGP, because TGP provide them with a Gambling Commission licence, and therefore a UK government approved licence. 

‘So the brands can assure their clubs their UK operations are licensed and regulated, and the clubs do deals in the knowledge they can assure fans their partners are licensed and regulated.’

Sportsmail contacted all 10 Premier League clubs in question and none responded on the record, although a majority privately agreed any proven links between TGP and Mr Chau would be troubling.

An official at one club voiced concerns that some partnerships are signed without extensive due diligence and believed that was the case elsewhere.

All the clubs who responded stressed they did due diligence on their betting partners while not feeling it was practical or necessary to extend that to due diligence to other companies their partners work with, such as TGP.

As Sportsmail in December it is unknown where Manchester City’s Asian betting partner 8xBet, registered in Curacao, has an operational base. The firm’s PR company, based in Dubai, will not say. 

Asked who owns 8xBet, the company said it was owned by a private individual Ryan Li, who has no public profile.

As we reported last year, quotes from Mr Li said a promotional video with Teddy Sheringham was an official launch of that partnership but the MoS discovered it used a lingerie model from London posing as an 8Xbet executive.

Kaiyun Sports, which signed a deal with Aston Villa last year, claims to have an HQ in Hong Kong despite the legal problems this would appear to present, and states it is registered in the British Virgin Islands, although no record could be found under this name.

The only named Kaiyun official comes up on the Real Madrid website as chief marketing officer Byrne Howard. There appears to be no professional or personal profile for such an individual.

Sportsmail repeatedly approached Garth Kimber and TGP with our evidence and a raft of questions but received no response.

The Gambling Commission declined to answer questions about TGP or the brands, stating that it does not discuss individual cases but said it did full due diligence on licence applicants. The Gambling Commission also declined to say whether there was any open investigation into TGP’s ownership.

However, Duncan Smith believes that there must be further investigation into the links between football and gambling.

‘The Mail on Sunday investigation into online gambling companies who sponsor English Premier League clubs raises important questions around transparency and accountability not just for the companies, but also the regulator, in the Gambling Commission, the clubs, the UK companies that supply services and licenses to these brands, and the EPL itself,’ he said.

‘It is clear that the Premier League clubs need to come clean on whether they know who the beneficial owners are of these Asian facing brands, whether the clubs have done full due diligence, and whether, ultimately, they know where the tens of millions of pounds that pour into their coffers comes from.’

A Premier League spokesperson said: ‘Gambling partners of Premier League clubs are regulated and licensed by the Gambling Commission and are required to adhere to the rules of the Advertising Standards Authority.’

THE HUMAN COST IS BEING IGNORED

By JAMES GRIMES — CAMPAIGNER AGAINST BETTING ADVERTISING

Gambling sponsorship in football is normalising and legitimising harm. I should know, over a 12-year gambling addiction I lost £100,000, which was every penny I could get my hands on. 

It turned a happy, bright and motivated young person into a broken, anxious, depressed, hopeless, helpless and skint 28-year-old wreck of a man. That’s so often the truth you don’t see behind the brands plastered across shirts and stadiums.

The current relationship between football and gambling companies is nothing short of the Wild West. Clubs continue to partner with these operators despite well-documented evidence of unsafe practices and links to crime. 

As a life-long football fan, it depresses me that family clubs — the heartbeat of their communities that we adore and trust — prostitute themselves to make a few extra quid from these dodgy online casinos. 

Where’s the due diligence? Where’s the thought and care for millions of young fans around the world? At what point did football decide revenue — at any cost— is more important than health and lives? They sign the cheques with their eyes closed.

There are of course broader questions about football’s economic model, but the current tie-up between the world’s biggest sport and the global gambling industry isn’t working. Billions are made from football bets and the cross-selling of more addictive online slots and casino games.

In return, the industry gives a fraction back in the form of advertising and sponsorship. Even this is only to lure in the next generation of punters, which it must after it has bankrupted or destroyed so many of the current batch. Someone takes their life each day in the UK due to gambling.

Let’s also be clear that profiting from crime and addiction is not a problem exclusively for far-flung gambling firms — licensed and regulated UK operators are regularly fined for the same offences.

The UK Government has a huge opportunity to end this farcical situation. It has been reviewing our gambling laws since 2020 and a white pap