Macau unlicensed money-changing cases up 232%

The number of cases is up year-on-year because of Covid-19 countermeasures last year.

Macau.- In a recent Legislative Assembly session discussing Macau’s 2024 Policy Address, secretary for security, Wong Sio Chak, has reported that the number of suspected unlicensed money-changing cases was up 232 per cent in the first nine months of 2023. Some 9,633 people were arrested for alleged involvement compared to 2,899.

The increase is entirely logical since last year there was little business due to Covid-19 countermeasures.

Wong Sio Chak said that while the detection and prevention of such activities traditionally fell under the purview of the Judiciary Police and Public Security Police, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) now collaborates with casino operators to identify illicit money touts.

Wong was asked by secretary for administration and justice, André Cheong Weng Chon, how to address the issue from a legal and law enforcement point of view. The government has discounted the idea of tackling it via the planned amendment to Law No.8/96/M.

“We have previously communicated with the executive and judicial departments. Only when consensus is reached will we be ready to propose a law,” Wong said. He said that measures to combat illegal currency exchange for now would remain “patrols and inspections” or new bans on suspects from entering Macau.