Macau Court Imposes 12½-Year Sentence on Former Lawmaker for Casino Licensing Leak and Subversion
Au Kam San received a 12½-year prison term in Macau's first known national security law case. Convictions included leaking confidential gaming concession details from a 2021 closed meeting and subversion tied to 2023-2024 election interference. The court combined sentences of nine months and 11 years three months.
SCCG Take — The verdict shows national security law now reaches directly into casino concession deliberations, requiring operators to treat licensing data with heightened caution under Macau's current enforcement posture.
Macau’s Court of First Instance sentenced former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Kam San to 12½ years in prison. The verdict covers subversion, two counts of establishing links with outside organizations to endanger national security, and breach of secrecy. It is the first publicly known prosecution under the national security law enacted in 2009.
Au, who is 69, was arrested in July 2025 and tried in closed proceedings in September. The court justified the secrecy to protect national security yet stated that Au had court-appointed counsel and exercised his defense rights. His wife, Virginia Cheang, called the case political persecution. Human Rights Watch said the trial showed due-process violations.
Leaked Casino Licensing Information
According to reporting by Casino.org, the court found that Au leaked information to organizations outside the territory in 2021. The breach occurred after he attended a closed-door session of the Legislative Assembly’s Follow-up Committee for Land and Public Concessions Affairs concerning renewal of gaming concessions. The court did not identify the recipients or the precise details shared.
Macau was then restructuring its casino sector. In 2022 authorities granted new 10-year concessions to the six incumbent operators, including businesses affiliated with Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts. Those concessions took effect in January 2023.
Election Interference Allegations
The principal charges centered on Au’s alleged ties to unidentified outside organizations hostile to the Chinese government. Judges determined that from 2023 to 2024 he helped gather and distribute false or distorted information intended to provoke foreign hostility toward China and Macau, build opposition to Beijing, and interfere with the territory’s 2024 leadership election.
Au was acquitted on two further subversion charges because evidence did not meet the legal threshold. He received nine months for the secrecy breach and 11 years and three months for subversion. Those terms combined with the remaining counts to produce the overall 12½-year sentence. Macau’s government defended the outcome and said it will continue strict enforcement of national security legislation.
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