Macau experienced a rise in gaming-related crimes during the first quarter of 2025, a trend attributed to new laws that criminalise unauthorised money exchange activities.
Between January and March, Macau authorities recorded a 61.5% increase in gaming-related crimes, with 567 incidents reported—up sharply from the same period in 2024. Officials have connected this surge to a new law targeting illegal currency exchange operations.
The rise follows Beijing’s crackdown last June on underground money changers, who assist gamblers in bypassing China’s capital controls. In response, Macau’s Legislative Assembly passed legislation in October officially criminalizing unlicensed currency exchanges within the casino hub.
China’s Ministry of Public Security says illegal currency exchanges contribute to money laundering and fuel a range of serious crimes, including fraud, theft, illegal immigration, kidnapping, and even murder.
In response, Macau’s revised Law on Combating Gambling Crimes imposes prison sentences of up to five years for those involved in unauthorized currency exchange. Offenders may also face a 10-year ban from entering any casino in the city.
The legislation also strengthens penalties for illegal gambling activities. Side bets and parallel wagers now carry potential prison terms of up to eight years. Additionally, the law grants police broader authority to raid and search suspected illegal gambling operations.
Crime up despite fewer casinos
Criminal activity in Macau’s gaming sector has surged, even as the number of casinos has declined—from 40 in 2019 to just 30 today, according to Macau Business.
Gaming operators filed a record 3,837 suspicious transaction reports last year, marking an 11.8% year-on-year increase and the highest number since Macau’s Financial Intelligence Office was founded in 2006.
This rise in illicit currency exchange activity aligns with major shifts in the VIP gambling market, especially the collapse of the junket industry. China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange limits annual overseas bank withdrawals to CNY100,000 (about $14,000)—a restriction that barely registers with high rollers who wager tens of thousands per hand.
In Q1 2025, Macau police recorded 567 gaming-related cases. Of these, 132 involved money changers, accounting for over 60% of the increase. Fraud followed with 152 cases (26.8%), along with incidents of loan sharking, theft, misappropriation, and defiance of casino exclusion orders.
“Casinos and gambling are widely considered to be breeding grounds for deviant behavior and criminal activity,” said Quan Fang of the Macau University of Science and Technology’s School of Law.
Author and criminology expert Sonny Shiu-Hing Lo echoed this view, citing the link between casinos and white-collar money laundering, illegal lending, and prostitution.
The move to criminalize unlicensed currency exchanges came shortly after a tragic incident involving a money changer who had just won roughly CNY2.3 million at a local casino. He was later found fatally stabbed in his hotel room at Wynn Palace on Cotai.
