Macau’s Judiciary Police 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, said Judiciary Police director Sit Chong Meng, in a Friday briefing.
The Judiciary Police looked at 943 gaming-related crime cases in the January to May period, with 204 of them – or 21.6 percent – being linked to unlicensed money exchange for gambling purposes, added the official.
Mr Sit also noted that his department had investigated 251 gaming-related fraud cases in the period, up 93.1 percent from the year-earlier period.
Unlicensed money exchange for gambling purposes was criminalised via the “Law to Combat Crimes of Illegal Gambling”, in effect from October 29 last year.
At the Friday briefing, Mr Sit mentioned the Judiciary Police had arrested a total of 481 individuals in relation to 323 alleged cases of gaming-related unlicensed money exchange, in a period spanning October last year to May this year.
Macau’s Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, said in a press briefing at the end of May, that the Law to Combat Crimes of Illegal Gambling had been “effective” in addressing gaming-related unlicensed money exchange.
Such money-changing is considered a criminal matter if Macau’s authorities assess it is being pursued as a trade activity, regardless of whether it takes place in or outside casinos, according to article 11 of the law.
A penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment can be imposed on those found guilty of that offence, the law says. They also face a Macau casino-entry ban of “two to 10 years”.
