Last year, Macau police identified more than 11,000 individuals engaged in illicit money exchange with 2,048 individuals being barred from entering Macau casinos.
According to the head of Macau’s police, the illicit money exchange activities were identified through daily inspections and various special operations conducted at the city’s casinos. After establishing a mechanism with the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) subsequently bans identified individuals from entering Macau casinos.
During a media briefing on crime data for 2023, Sit Chong Meng, director of the Judiciary Police, noted that gambling-related illegal exchange businesses continue to be active, which is becoming a serious security risk around the casinos.
Macau authorities are currently considering the criminalisation of unauthorized money-exchange activities known to occur in Macau’s casinos or their surroundings.
Betting in Macau casinos requires Hong Kong dollars. However, a significant portion of the clientele hails from mainland China, where there are restrictions on the amount of the country’s currency, the yuan, that can be carried across the border per trip.
Gaming-related crime low compared to 2019
The Judiciary Police also commenced a total of 2,717 gaming-related crime investigations throughout the year 2023, 50 percent lower compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, despite the figure representing a 181 percent yearly increase.
Sit points out that serious gambling crimes significantly decreased last year, with loansharking and related detention cases dropping by 80.2 percent and 90.4 percent, respectively, compared to 2019.
The use of gambling for illegal activities, such as money laundering and other serious crimes, has essentially disappeared, said the official. In this context, he believes that Macau’s gaming industry is moving in the right direction for healthy development.
Officials documented 119 cases of usury, or loan sharking, connected to gambling, marking a significant 261 percent surge from the 33 instances reported the previous year.
In 2023, law enforcement addressed 33 cases of unlawful detention, a notable increase from the solitary case recorded in 2022.
Data indicate a total of 257 fraud cases linked to gaming in the entirety of 2023, depicting a substantial year-on-year escalation of 199 percent.
