Report | Pawn shops still helping flout currency rules

Despite the launch of a raid into five pawn shops by police stores are still allowing punters to make fake purchases to circumvent restrictions to mainland China’s currency, Reuters reported.
Authorities believe that the scam facilitated by pawn shops in town is also being used by corrupt officials and businesspeople to transfer ill-gotten money out of the mainland.
According to a report issued by Reuters, three Chinese men gathered on Thursday at a small pawn store near Grand Lisboa. One was able to get HKD300,000 after signing two band card receipts. He then pulled out another card and asked the cashier in Mandarin to give him a further HKD200,000.
In less than 10 minutes, the Chinese gambler used credit cards to skirt China’s currency rules, which limit withdrawals to RMB20,000.
Mainland tourists bypassing currency controls helped fuel a decade-long boom in Macau. Chinese and Macau authorities further restricted the use of China UnionPay Co.’s debit cards at casinos last year, since some gamblers had been illegally using UnionPay cards to obtain cash through the false purchase of goods in Macau, thus avoiding China’s strict currency-­export controls.
There is no precise figure on how much Chinese money is being channeled illegally into Macau. Tam Chi Keong, an assistant professor at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), says the total could amount to HKD1.57 trillion a year through various channels. UnionPay and Macau police authorities did not respond to Reuters’ enquiries for comment on the improper use of card machines and cards by local pawn shops.