The Macau authorities have detained 597 individuals for alleged involvement in unlicensed foreign exchange for gambling, between the criminalisation of such trade on October 29, 2024 and July 31 this year. It was a newly-created offence under the “Law to Combat Crimes of Illegal Gambling”.
The figures were given on Monday in a statement by the Office of the Secretary for Security of the Macau government.
The office did not give details on those detained, but said the detentions followed investigations into 387 cases involving “illegal money exchange”.
The police had seized about HKD71 million (US$9.1 million) connected to those cases, including more than HKD56 million in cash and over HKD15 million in gaming chips, according to the announcement.
Unauthorised foreign-currency exchange for Macau gambling is considered a criminal matter if the city’s authorities deem it as being done as a trade activity, regardless of whether it takes place in or outside casinos. Such exchange activity can result in a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment for those found guilty, the law says. These people could also face a Macau casino entry ban of “two to 10 years” in length.
The new legislation also opens the possibility for suspects to be charged under the general penal code, with “criminal association”, which can result in other penalties.
The office said in Monday’s statement that “in recent years, with the continued increase in tourist numbers, the number of individuals engaging in ‘illegal money exchange’ [activities] in and around Macau’s casinos has also increased”.
The announcement added that by “pursuing intelligence-driven criminal investigations, adjusting combat and prevention strategies, deepening cooperation in law enforcement, and rigorously combating these crimes,” the Macau police had “achieved considerable results” in the fight against “illegal money exchange” groups since the enforcement of the new law.
The criminalising of gaming-related unlicensed money exchange has been “effective” in combatting such activities, said the city’s Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, in late April.
In July, the director of Macau’s Judiciary Police, Sit Chong Meng, said the force recorded a 62.9-percent year-on-year increase in the number of gaming-related crimes it investigated in the first five months of this year. The rise was mainly driven by cases of gaming-related unlicensed money exchange, he stated at the time.
In a separate Monday press release, Macau’s Unitary Police Service said the police authorities in Macau, Guangdong and Hong Kong carried out a joint operation (pictured) from August 4 to September 6 in a bid to “prevent and combat cross-boundary crime”. The announcement said it probed 62 cases of “illegal money exchange” for gambling, resulting in the detention of 100 individuals.
