Macao authorities opened 760 investigations into illegal gambling-related crimes during the past judicial year, a dramatic rise on the 325 cases registered the year prior, Asia Gaming Brief reports. Prosecutor General Tong Hio Fong announced the figures earlier this week, at a ceremony marking the start of the 2025-26 Judicial Year.
Tong attributed the 134 percent surge mainly to Law No. 20/2024, which came into effect last October. It targets long-standing underground currency exchange networks that have supported illegal gambling operations in and around casinos.
Some 410 of last year’s cases involved illegal currency exchange, Tong noted. The figure reflected strengthened enforcement against unregulated intermediaries, closer supervision of junket operators, and a crackdown on money laundering as part of ongoing reforms to the gaming sector.
[See more: New law to counter gambling addiction comes into effect in Japan]
Macao’s overall rate of reported crimes dropped by 6.4 percent year-on-year across the first half of 2025, according to the Macau Post Daily. Fraud cases and cases of violent crime were down 19.1 percent and 16.8 percent respectively for the period.
The Daily added that illegal currency exchange activities on and off casino premises accounted for 22.1 percent of gambling crimes reported, and that of the 1,348 suspects involved in casino-related crimes between January and June, fewer than 200 were local residents.
The SAR has been making strenuous efforts to toughen up its gambling laws following the high-profile cases of jailed junket operators Alvin Chau and Levo Chan.
