Macau police tighten casino monitoring amid GGR slowdown

Oct 15, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau’s Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak (pictured), said on Wednesday that the police have strengthened actions to prevent and combat illegal activities at the city’s casinos. Mr Wong added that the increased surveillance would not jeopardise the development of Macau’s gaming sector.

The official acknowledged that the “ongoing adjustment in the city’s gaming industry” could pose challenges to Macau’s public security. He stressed that the authorities had been paying special attention to the matter.

Mr Wong told local reporters that the police have already beefed up supervision and security controls in casinos and their vicinity.

The secretary said the authorities would continue monitoring the “social impacts of the ongoing adjustment”. Gaming revenue in Macau casinos has dropped for 16 consecutive months as measured in year-on-year terms, according to official data.

Macau saw a significant rise in reported cases of crime relating to gaming in the first half of 2015, Mr Wong had said in August. In the six months to June 30, gaming-related criminal cases jumped 34.5 percent year-on-year to 679 cases, he said.

Most cases of usury (92 percent) and unlawful detention (77 percent) happened inside casinos, the authorities said in the half-year report.

On Wednesday, Mr Wong confirmed that the city’s Judiciary Police are investigating the alleged fraud case involving Macau junket operator Dore Entertainment Co Ltd. He added that the case was “complex” as it involved numerous people and a large amount of capital.

Claim complaints reported to Macau police from those presenting themselves as investors in the cage operations of Dore have reached at least HKD520 million (US$67.1 million), reported Macao Daily News. The Chinese-language newspaper quoted the police saying it had received a total of 49 complaints related to the case.

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