Macau proposes new penalties for illegal gambling

Penalties will be extended to up to eight years.

Macau.- Director of the Legal Affairs Bureau, Leong Weng In, has presented the draft Law on Combating Illegal Gambling Crimes, which is intended to replace Macau’s existing Illegal Gambling Law (Law 8/96/m). Leong also said the bill would increase penalties for illegal gambling to up to eight years and the maximum duration of pretrial detention to a year.

See also: Macau considers criminalising unauthorised money exchange in casinos

The legislation includes under-the-table or multiplier betting within illegal gambling operations in a bid to avoid potential legal disputes arising from diverse interpretations of the law.

Secretary for Administration and Justice, André Cheong Weng Chon, had clarified the necessity of addressing the varying legal interpretations of under-the-table betting.

The bill also proposes a ban on the operation, promotion, and organisation of online gambling and mutual betting irrespective of the physical location of associated systems and devices within Macau. It introduces provisions enabling searches of residences from 9pm to 7am and restricting detainee communication before judicial interrogation.

See also: Gaming-related crimes in Macau up 178.6% in first nine months of the year