Macau police work with casinos to tackle illicit currency exchange
The Judiciary Police have been working with casino security teams to check for illicit currency exchanges.
Macau.- The Judiciary Police in Macau have been working with casino security teams to check for illicit currency exchange activities in and around casinos on the Macau peninsula and in the Cotai district. Inspections covered gaming floors, shopping zones and hotel areas at four casinos.
The latest enforcement action was conducted on March 3 and 4, resulting in 84 individuals being questioned. Only 20 were suspected to have been engaged in illicit currency exchange activities. Most of them were residents of mainland China.
Bets at Macau casinos are mainly denominated in Hong Kong dollars, but many of the customers are from mainland China, which imposes controls on the amount of yuan that can be taken across the border per trip. The illicit money changers offer a better exchange rate and process unauthorised cross-border transactions.
Macau police identified over 3,500 people suspected of illicit money exchange activities in 2022, mostly from the Chinese mainland. They expect an increase this year due to the easing of Covid-19-related travel restrictions. In 2022 gaming-related crimes in Macau declined by 30 per cent when compared to the previous year.
