In addition to other crimes on the mainland side of the border, China’s Ministry of Public Security has uncovered “capital flow” of more than CNY80 billion (US$11 billion) from what it called “syndicates” connected to unapproved foreign currency (FX) that has occurred in or near Macau casinos. The figure’s time frame was not specified.
During a media briefing in Beijing on Friday, Chen Shiqu, deputy head of the ministry’s criminal investigation department, stated that 263 such syndicates spread around China had been “dismantled” by the police.
Additionally, they had interfered with what the ministry claimed were related offenses, such as the running of underground banks, the planning of unauthorized border crossings for citizens of mainland China, fraud, and the unjustified detention of gamblers.
According to Mr. Chen, the Chinese police have so far detained 846 “criminal suspects” in connection with these cases.
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Since the authorities on both sides of the border warned in early July that they were stepping up their measures against unauthorized foreign exchange in Macau, he and a number of other public security officials described those actions and their cooperation with the Macau police during the Friday briefing.
Authorities have looked into 192 cases of alleged illegal money exchange transactions and related offenses in Guangdong, the mainland province adjacent to Macau. Wu Wei, the deputy chief of the criminal investigation division of Guangdong Provincial Public Security, stated during Friday’s briefing that the estimated sum of money involved was CNY14.7 billion.
According to Friday’s statement, the ministry established a task force in Zhuhai, the Guangdong city adjacent to Macau, that is specifically focused on dealing with criminal matters pertaining to Macau’s illegal money exchange dealers, many of whom are thought to be from the mainland.
During the conference, Mr. Chen stated that 581 mainlanders who were suspected of engaging in illegal money exchange had been sent back to Zhuhai by the Macau police.
“The gangs running these activities and other affiliated crimes they commit now see an effective clampdown under the collaborative effort of the mainland and Macau security departments – especially considering the fact that illicit money exchange activities have already been criminalized via Macau’s legislation,” Mr. Chen added.
However, the official also pointed out that there were still difficulties because of the “hidden” nature of their operations, which included numerous currency exchanges occurring in hotel rooms in Macau behind closed doors, as well as other related crimes like robberies, scams, unlawfully detaining gamblers, blackmail, and money laundering.
According to Mr. Chen, the Chinese security agencies would keep looking into the matter, concentrating on “ringleaders” and any underground financial system that provides funding for their operations.
At a briefing on Friday, the Macau Judiciary Police also described their attempts to shut down illegal money exchange companies.
The city’s law enforcement authorities have arrested 84 people, the majority of whom are from the mainland, for allegedly engaging in unlicensed foreign exchange for gambling, according to Sou Sio Keong, deputy director of the Judiciary Police. They have also confiscated cash and gaming chips valued at HKD9.6 million (US$1.23 million). That lasted until November 30, having begun on October 29 when such transaction was made illegal in Macau.
According to Macau’s Law to Combat Crimes of Illegal Gambling, the offense is a recently established one.
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