{"id":777017115,"date":"2024-07-10T09:15:34","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T12:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777017115"},"modified":"2026-04-22T08:19:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T11:19:42","slug":"macau-4-arrested-for-alleged-illegal-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-4-arrested-for-alleged-illegal-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Macau: 4 arrested for alleged illegal gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Those arrested were allegedly playing mahjong in the attic of a shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Macau.- Police in Macau have arrested four people aged between 50 and 60 for allegedly playing mahjong in the attic of a shop at Av. Marginal do Lam Mau. Police say they found two mahjong tables and gambling equipment and that the location had been operating since March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A woman allegedly charged MOP80 per table for hourly rent. It was estimated that she had been making up to MOP$500 (US$62.18) per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, Chan Chak Mo<\/strong>, a lawmaker who leads the Second Standing Committee discussing the draft\u00a0Law on Combating Illegal Gambling Crimes<\/a>, said Macau lawmakers were requesting the government to provide more detailed guidance on the legality of mahjong in restaurants and clubs. Legislation prohibits unapproved profit-generating gambling. That would appear to allow mahjong if businesses don\u2019t charge, but the committee is seeking guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed legislation suggests that illegal gambling, both online and offline, as well as mutual betting, should be exceptions to the Criminal Procedure Ordinance\u2019s time restrictions, permitting searches of residences from 9pm to 7am. It also proposes fines ranging from MOP1,500 (US$186) to MOP5,000 (US$620) for those involved in illegal gambling in public spaces such as parks and squares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill was presented by the director of the Legal Affairs Bureau, Leong Weng In<\/strong>, last December. It is intended to replace Macau\u2019s existing Illegal Gambling Law (Law 8\/96\/m). It passed its initial reading<\/a> at the Legislative Assembly in February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those arrested were allegedly playing mahjong in the attic of a shop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":26852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Macau police have arrested four individuals for operating an illegal mahjong gambling den, charging hourly rent for tables. Concurrently, Macau lawmakers are seeking clearer governmental guidance on the legality of mahjong in commercial establishments, particularly concerning profit generation, as part of a new legislative effort to combat illegal gambling. This proposed legislation, which includes enhanced search powers and increased fines, aims to replace the existing Illegal Gambling Law.","focusai_entities":"Chan Chak Mo, Leong Weng In, Legal Affairs Bureau, Legislative Assembly","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), investor_analyst (0.85), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Legislative Impact Analysis","query":"Beyond the proposed fines and search powers, what are the broader implications of the 'Law on Combating Illegal Gambling Crimes' for Macau's B2C licensing framework and the operational scope of regulated entities?"},{"label":"Regulatory Clarity on Mahjong","query":"Given the ongoing request for guidance, what specific criteria or thresholds is the government expected to establish to differentiate legal, non-profit mahjong from illicit profit-generating operations in commercial venues?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,439],"tags":[20326],"class_list":["post-777017115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legal-news","tag-illegal-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777017115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777017115"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777017115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777017118,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777017115\/revisions\/777017118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777017115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777017115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777017115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}