Macau police investigates 716 suspected gaming-related crimes from Jan to Sept

Macau’s Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, gave some insights into the criminal situation connected to gaming in the area in the first nine months of this year.

Mr. Wong said that the Judiciary Police looked into 716 possible criminal cases involving gambling over this period. This was a notable 55.2% decrease over the same period in 2019 but represented a 178.6% increase over the prior year. With 155 suspected scams and 129 suspected thefts under investigation by police, scams, and thefts ranked as the most prevalent types of gaming-related crimes.

Scam numbers were 46.7% lower at this time in 2019 despite a 138.5% increase from the prior year. Likewise, there was a 486.4% rise in purported gaming-related thefts in 2018 compared to a 12.8% decline in 2019.

As soon as Macau’s gaming business recovered, Wong emphasized, there would inevitably be an increase in related criminal activities. Notably, disruptive conduct in and around casinos has drawn the attention of the Secretary of Security, who has linked it to illegal money-changing activities.

He said that the police had found 137 suspected fraud cases involving illegal money moving in the first nine months. These cases included things like remittance fraud and the circulation of fake banknotes. As of right now, there have been 137 instances, compared to 108 comparable events for the whole year 2022.

Wong claimed that the Judiciary Police has begun an “in-depth” inquiry into the prospect of criminalizing money exchange activities due to the increase in illicit transactions. The findings of the research have been sent to the relevant government departments.

According to André Cheong Weng Chon, Macau’s Secretary for Administration and Justice, the government is looking into legal and enforcement measures to deal with illegal money exchange activities. To properly handle this issue, Wong said, the government was looking at criminalizing money exchange businesses that are not authorized, even as it considered changing present laws.

Original story by: GGRAsia