Macau DICJ announces temporary replacement of former director Adriano Ho

Adriano Marques Ho stepped down to become commissioner of Macau Customs.

Macau.- Lio Chi Chong has been appointed as acting director of Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) following the departure of former director Adriano Ho.

The change was announced today (January 8) in a dispatch by Tai Kin Yip, the secretary for economy and finance in Macau’s Official Gazette. However, the dispatch dates to December 26, a week after the announcement of Adriano Ho’s departure. Ho was appointed as the new commissioner of Macau Customs under the government of Sam Hou Fai, who was elected chief executive of Macau last October.

Chi Chong had previously held the role of deputy director at the DICJ. According to the dispatch, Tai Kin Yip assigned specific responsibilities to Chi Chong as the acting director of DICJ, including the power to sign all contracts related to the regulator’s authority and to issue official documents to organisations both within and outside of Macau on behalf of the DICJ.

Chi Chong holds a degree in electrical engineering and law. He became part of the DICJ in August 2020 as a senior technician, managing gaming technologies and activities at Macau’s casinos. He was then promoted to deputy director in February 2021. Before this, Chi Chong worked as an investigator at Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) from 1999 until 2008, and afterwards, he served as a supervisor at the Office for Personal Data Protection.

As Chi Chong takes on the responsibilities of acting director, this leaves one of the two deputy director positions at DICJ empty. The other deputy director is Chui Hou Ian, who was appointed in February 2023.