Increase in Gaming-Related Criminal Activity in Macau Linked to Recent Changes in Currency Exchange Regulations

From January through March, law enforcement in Macau reported a significant 61.5% increase in gaming-related crimes, with 567 incidents logged during the period, marking a stark rise from the first quarter of 2024. This escalation has been attributed to recent legislation in Macau that criminalizes unlicensed currency exchanges in the casino city.

In June of the previous year, Beijing initiated a crackdown on illegal money changers who have historically helped gamblers circumvent governmental restrictions on capital outflows. Subsequently, in October, the Macau Legislative Assembly enacted a law criminalizing these activities.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, these unlicensed exchanges have facilitated money laundering and have been linked to a variety of criminal activities including fights, fraud, thefts, illegal immigration, and more severe crimes such as kidnapping and murder.

With the revised Law on Combating Gambling Crimes, penalties now include prison sentences of up to five years for those involved in these illegal exchanges, and convictions could result in a ten-year prohibition from entering city casinos.

Additionally, the new legislation has increased the repercussions for illegal gambling activities. Engaging in side bets and parallel betting can now lead to as much as eight years of imprisonment. Moreover, the law has strengthened police authority, granting them enhanced powers to enter and search premises suspected of hosting illegal gambling activities.

Despite a reduction in the total number of casinos—from 40 in 2019 to just 30 today—criminal activities have surged. Last year, the gaming operators submitted a record 3,837 suspicious transaction reports, an increase of 11.8% from the previous year and the highest since the establishment of Macau’s Financial Intelligence Office in 2006.

This increase in illicit money changing activities coincides with changes in the VIP sector, including the near disappearance of the junket trade. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange in China caps overseas withdrawals from Chinese banks at only CNY100,000 ($14,000) annually, a figure trivial for high-stake gamblers.

Among the 567 cases recorded in the first quarter, 132 involved illegal money changers, accounting for more than 60% of the increase. Following closely were 152 cases of fraud, comprising 26.8% of the total. Other reported offenses included usury, theft, misappropriation, and violations of casino exclusion orders.

“Casinos and gambling are commonly recognized as hotbeds for a variety of deviant behaviors 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 specializing in Macau crime issues, concurs, noting that “casinos lead to activities such as money laundering, loan sharking, and prostitution.”

The decision to criminalize money exchange services followed the murder of a money changer who had won approximately CNY2.3 million at a local casino. He was later found stabbed to death in his room at Wynn Palace on Cotai.

The first quarter of 2025 has seen a spike in gaming-related crime in Macau, primarily driven by the new laws targeting illegal money exchange operations.