Macau seeks faster trials for illegal casino money exchange
Unlicensed currency exchange cases rose 20.2 per cent as prosecutors called for clearer legal standards to strengthen enforcement.
Macau.- Authorities are reportedly seeking changes to Macau’s law and judicial procedures to speed up prosecutions of illegal currency exchange linked to casino gambling. The proposal is intended to address difficulties in proving that suspects operate commercial money exchange businesses and reduce the time courts spend handling straightforward cases.
Song Man Lei, President of the Court of Final Appeal, has argued that most money laundering cases involve simple evidence and straightforward facts and has proposed legal amendments that would allow these cases to be assigned to a single judge in order to free up significant judicial resources for more complex criminal trials.
According to data released by Prosecutor-General Tong Hio Fong, the Public Prosecutions Office registered 892 gaming-related crimes during the 2025/2026 judicial year (September 2025 to August 2026), a 17.4 per cent year-on-year increase. Unlicensed currency exchange accounted 493 cases, up 20.2 per cent from the previous year.
Under Macau’s Law to Combat Crimes of Illegal Gambling, enacted in October 2024, running an unlicensed money exchange business for gambling purposes carries a prison sentence of up to five years. But despite the new law, there have been difficulties in securing convictions.
Prosecutor-General Tong said that many individuals apprehended by police near casino properties claim to be “first-time offenders,” making it difficult to establish sufficient evidence that their activity constitutes a structured commercial enterprise or “business operation”.
