A Macau customs officer is one of the 93 individuals who have been charged in connection with an illegal sports betting operation that extended into Hong Kong and Guangdong Province.
The Macau Judiciary Police apprehended 50 individuals suspected of being involved in an illicit underground bookmaking business. The operation is accused of accepting over $134 million in sports bets since 2016.
According to the authorities, 50 suspects in Macau, 42 in mainland China, and one individual in Hong Kong have been taken into custody for running the underground bookmaking network. It is believed that the operation raked in at least MOP1.08 billion (US$134 million) in bets over the past few years.
The investigation into the illegal gambling operation was initiated following a money laundering probe in 2022, which uncovered connections to an illicit sports betting ring. Despite four leaders of the syndicate being in prison for money laundering, they allegedly continued to oversee the sportsbook scheme from behind bars.
The illicit bookmaking business operated online websites hosted on servers located overseas. Additionally, bets were placed in person in and around major casino resorts in downtown Macau and the Cotai Strip. Bettors from Hong Kong and mainland China reportedly met with intermediaries to place their bets.
Law enforcement officials believe that the underground sports betting ring primarily focused on soccer matches. During the ongoing Euro 2024 tournament in Germany, the syndicate was allegedly accepting more than $9 million in bets each week.
The police operation resulted in the seizure of approximately $11 million in cash, the freezing of over 90 bank accounts linked to the operation, and the confiscation of 100 cell phones, 26 computers and tablets, and nearly $1 million in various residential units throughout Macau.
Individuals involved in the illegal operation were engaged in various activities, including recruiting bettors, collecting bets, and pursuing players who failed to pay their debts. Due to the involvement of a customs officer in the scheme, the Customs of Macau SAR government agency has launched an internal investigation into the officer, who has been suspended pending the outcome of the review.
The illegal bookmaking business specialized in soccer matches and attracted bettors by offering more favorable odds than Macau Slot, the prominent online and retail bookmaker in Macau. While sports betting is gaining popularity in the U.S., it remains a smaller segment of the Chinese gaming industry, which is concentrated in Macau, with sports wagering available on the mainland through the national lottery.
The crackdown on the illegal gambling operation was a result of collaboration between law enforcement agencies in Macau, Hong Kong, and Guangdong. Penalties for running illegal gambling operations in China are severe, with harsher penalties for those involved in cross-border gambling activities.
Former Suncity boss Alvin Chau was recently sentenced to 18 years in prison on various charges related to fraud, illegal gambling, and criminal association. Chau was a prominent figure in the Macau junket industry, which catered to wealthy mainland Chinese visitors, encouraging them to gamble large sums of money in Macau.
