Rise in Gaming-Related Crime in Macau Linked to New Currency Exchange Regulations

From January through March, law enforcement in Macau reported a 61.5% increase in gaming-related crimes, with 567 incident reports. This represents a significant rise from the first quarter of 2024. The increase is attributed to the recent criminalization of unlicensed currency exchanges in the casino city.

In June, Beijing initiated a crackdown on illicit money changers, assisting gamblers in circumventing governmental controls on capital flight. By October, the Macau Legislative Assembly had passed a law making such activities illegal.

The Ministry of Public Security has indicated that these unlicensed exchanges contribute to money laundering and are linked to numerous other criminal activities, including fights, fraud, thefts, illegal immigration, kidnapping, and even murder.

The amended Law on Combating Gambling Crimes now includes prison sentences of up to five years for those involved in illegal money exchange operations. Those convicted under this law may also face a ten-year ban from entering city casinos.

Additionally, the law has intensified penalties for illegal gambling activities. Side bets and parallel bets can now attract imprisonment for up to eight years. Moreover, law enforcement has been granted enhanced authority to enter and search premises suspected of housing illegal gambling operations.

### Crime up despite fewer casinos

Despite a reduction in the number of casinos, from 40 in 2019 to just 30 currently, criminal incidents have increased. Macau Business reported a record 3,837 suspicious transaction reports filed by gaming operators last year, a rise of 11.8% over the previous year—marking the highest volume since the establishment of Macau’s Financial Intelligence Office in 2006.

The crackdown on money changers coincided with changes in the VIP business sector, including the almost complete disappearance of the junket trade. This is notable given the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in China limits overseas withdrawals from Chinese banks to just CNY 100,000 ($14,000) per year, an amount considered trivial by high rollers who regularly wager $25,000 per hand.

Of the 567 cases recorded in the first quarter, 132 involved money changers, accounting for more than 60% of the increase. Fraud cases followed, with 152 incidents or 26.8%. Other recorded offenses included usury, theft, misappropriation, and defiance of casino exclusion orders.

“Casinos and gambling are widely considered to be breeding grounds for a range of deviant behavior and criminal offenses,” stated Quan Fang, a researcher from the School of Law at Macau University of Science and Technology.

Sonny Shiu-Hing Lo, an author who has written extensively about crime in Macau, also noted that casinos often lead to activities such as money laundering, loan sharking, and prostitution.

The initiative to criminalize money exchanges followed the murder of a money changer who had won approximately CNY 2.3 million at a local casino. He was later found stabbed to death in his room at the Wynn Palace on Cotai.

In summary, Macau witnessed a significant uptick in gaming-related crime in the first quarter of 2025, largely attributed to the new legislation targeting illegal money exchange activities.