Gaming-related crimes in Macau: 1,021 cases recorded in first nine months of the year
The figure was up 42.6 per cent in year-on-year terms.
Macau.- The Judiciary Police (PJ) in Macau has reported that gaming-related crimes rose 42.6 per cent year-on-year to 1,021 in the first nine months of the year. The was 36 per cent lower than in 2019.
Security secretary Wong Sio Chak said in a press conference that 2,835 people had been arrested in connection with unlicensed foreign exchange. Meanwhile, Fraud accounted for 25 per cent of cases (254), followed by loan sharking (195), misappropriation (150 cases) and theft (113 cases). Other offences included trespassing, assault, and kidnapping.
New legislation on gambling crimes entered into force in October. The bill bans currency exchange for gambling and the operation, promotion, and organisation of online gambling and mutual betting irrespective of the physical location of systems and devices. It also introduces provisions enabling searches of residences from 9pm to 7am and prohibits the sale of the Mark Six lottery organised by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC).
Some 13 alleged unlicensed currency traders have been arrested in a series of raids conducted in 23 different provinces and cities in Macau and Cotai. Police seized HK$2.7m (US$350,000) along with HK$540,000 in gaming chips.
Macau gaming taxes reach US$9.10bn in first 10 months of the year
The Financial Services Bureau has reported that Macau collected MOP73.04bn (US$9.10bn) in taxes from casino operations in the first ten months of the year. That’s 87.4 per cent of its target of MOP83.61bn (US$10.4bn) for the full year.
In October, the Macau government collected MOP6.65bn (US$829.3m). That’s a 4.8 per cent decrease compared to the preceding month. GGR for October was MOP20.79bn (US$2.60bn), an increase of 6.6 per cent year-on-year and 20.5 per cent compared to the previous month. It was the city’s best monthly performance since January 2020 (MOP22.13bn).
The rise in revenue was mainly attributed to the October Golden Week holiday, a seven-day public holiday in Mainland China, which brought 916,000 visitors to Macau. The Macau Hoteliers and Innkeepers Association reported at the time that the city’s average hotel occupancy rate had peaked at 95 per cent.
Last January, Macau’s new 10-year gaming concession system began with an effective tax rate of 40 per cent on GGR. Cumulatively, Macau’s GGR for the first ten months of 2024 was MOP190.1bn (US$23.7bn), up 28.1 per cent year-on-year but 23 per cent lower than the same period in 2019, when GGR amounted to MOP246.9bn (US$30.8bn).
