GGRAsia – Casino crime up in 1Q, down from boom years: Macau govt

Casino crime up in 1Q, down from boom years: Macau govt

May 22, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Investigated casino crime rose in Macau in the first quarter judged year-on-year. Casino-related cases examined by Macau’s Judiciary Police increased by 22.4 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the year-ago period, to about 310 cases.

But the city’s Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak (pictured), noted the overall number of cases had decreased compared with the same period in 2012 and 2013 respectively, when the local industry was registering strong revenue growth.

GGR in Macau fell 38.8 percent year-on-year in April to approximately MOP19.17 billion (US$2.40 billion), show official data. It extended to 11 months the year-on-year decline in the city’s monthly casino revenue tally.

Mr Wong stated that casino-related criminality had little overall social impact in Macau, with 97 percent of such cases in the first quarter taking place inside the casino properties. But he added that the local authorities would continue to pay close attention to this type of criminal behaviour.

The overall number of crime cases recorded in Macau during the first quarter of 2015 was 3,588, up by 2,4 percent in year-on-year terms, according to official data disclosed by Mr Wong.