Macau saw “significant” year-on-year decrease in the number of people detected for unlicensed money trading for gambling purposes in the first-half. That was thanks to the recently-created crime category of unlicensed foreign exchange for gaming purposes, and joint enforcement action against that crime by police in Macau and on the Chinese mainland. That is according Wong Sio Chak, Macau’s Secretary for Security, speaking at a Friday briefing for the media.
Mr Wong was giving a summary of overall Macau crime trends for the opening six months this year.
In the period, Macau police investigated 410 individuals allegedly engaged in unlicensed gaming-related money exchange business. The figure was down 81.5 percent year-on-year, said Mr Wong.
Police arrested 406 of those individuals and seized about MOP60 million (US$7.49 million) – including cash and gaming chips – deemed to be connected to their activities, according to the security chief.
Macau’s “Law to Combat Crimes of Illegal Gambling” – in effect from October 29 last year – criminalises unlicensed money exchange for gambling purposes. This crime category accounted for 240 cases in the first half of this year, or 21.1 percent of the 1,139 gambling-related criminal cases that the police probed in the period. That is according to statistics released via Mr Wong’s office.
Gambling-related criminal cases recorded in the first half of this year rose 66.8 percent year-on-year.
Mr Wong said the overall increase in gaming crime cases was mainly due to enforcement of the Law to Combat Crimes of Illegal Gambling.
Gambling-related crime rose due to the “continual increase” in the number of inbound tourists, said Mr Wong.
“As Macau has seen continual increase in inbound visits, it brings more uncertainties to our security condition,” Mr Wong remarked.
He added: “The [illicit] money exchange traders and the other relevant criminal groups could become active again, or turn to other criminal activities, such as thefts, usury or scams, which the police would continue to closely monitor.”
Of those three categories of offence, scams were the largest single component of gaming-related crimes in the first half, totalling 297 cases. The tally was up nearly 87 percent year-on-year, the sharpest increase among gaming-related crimes.
Mr Wong’s office did not give details on the types of gaming-related scams the authorities encountered.
It did however highlight the authorities’ enforcement action – jointly with Macau’s casino regulator the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, and the city’s six gaming concessionaires – in blocking nearly 60,000 illegal gambling websites during the first half this year.
