Pereira Coutinho criticizes authorities’ response to casino crimes

Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho claims that local security authorities are failing to properly address unlawful and criminal activities in local casinos. He added that this is contributing to the discrediting of the local gaming industry.

Pereira Coutinho was speaking during the period before Tuesday’s plenary session at the Legislative Assembly.

In his spoken inquiry to the government, the lawmaker disagreed with previous statements by both the Secretary for Security Chan Tsz King and Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Sit Chong Meng, who said late last week that some recently revealed cases of illegal betting activities in local casinos were “isolated cases” and “not the work of organized criminal groups.”

According to the lawmaker, “The PJ dismantled several organized criminal networks that were operating inside casinos using micro-cameras concealed in clothing accessories (coats, ties, buttons, glasses, and pens), transmitting real-time images of gaming tables via radio frequency signals and encrypted mobile networks to bettors based outside the territory, specifically in mainland China and Southeast Asia.”

“These are not isolated or amateurish acts, but rather a criminal enterprise with a pyramid-like structure, cross-border logistics, and high illicit profits, undermining the collection of special gambling taxes and posing increased risks of money laundering and illicit financing, since transfers abroad evade the ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) mechanisms and suspicious transaction reporting requirements mandated by the Law on the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering,” the same lawmaker added.

Pereira Coutinho expressed concerns about these activities and what he considered to be slow and post-event actions by authorities, noting: “These actions cause irreparable damage to the Macau SAR’s image as the ‘City of Leisure and Entertainment,’ undermining the confidence of institutional investors and high-spending tourists at a time when regional competitors (South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia) are strengthening their own technological security standards.”

“Although the PJ’s work is commendable and effective during the criminal investigation phase, it has relied primarily on reactive measures; that is, it is triggered by anonymous tips, evidence gathered during operations of a different nature, or even complaints received by security personnel at casino operators,” the lawmaker pointed out, reaffirming that “Simply dismantling these networks ‘a posteriori’ does not restore public confidence, nor does it deter the creation of new ones, especially when these networks had been operating for months or even years at various gaming concessionaires without internal monitoring systems or periodic inspections having detected them promptly.”

Pereira Coutinho suggested that the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, as the regulatory body, and the PJ, as the criminal investigation authority, should shift from a system of scheduled inspections to one of continuous and random audits, using surprise operations that test, in practice, the effectiveness of each gaming concessionaire’s internal protocols.

Claiming to have received complaints and requests for assistance from casino security workers, the lawmaker said that these staff members noted that there is no system in place to allow them to report many unlawful activities they deal with regularly, such as loan sharking, illegal currency exchange, and the use of hidden broadcasting devices, among others.

The lawmaker claimed that these professionals often refrain from taking action due to fears of retaliation.

He also added that his camp, composed of three lawmakers, believes that the current criminal framework (namely the articles concerning the crime of illegal gambling operations and the crime of criminal association) does not classify the use of hidden audio-video transmission equipment as an independent aggravating circumstance, nor does it provide for the effective joint liability of concessionaires, calling for a law amendment as soon as possible to maintain Macau’s advantage as an economic pillar.