Macau’s Judiciary Police has announced the cracking of an illegal gambling ring involving proxy betting inside the VIP rooms of a ZAPE casino, resulting in the arrests of 10 men and women from mainland China.
Police raided one of the VIP rooms on the morning of 2 August and arrested three of the men after an investigation revealed that the syndicate had been operating a proxy betting scheme whereby games were broadcast live via mobile phone apps. The baccarat games reportedly had no restrictions on betting limits, with bets made and received via mainland banks and third-party payment platforms.
“The criminal syndicate made profits by earning the junket commission from casino VIP rooms and drawing 5% of the bets when the ‘banker’ won the game,” the Judiciary Police said. “When the bet was less than HK$5,000, the criminal syndicate would play private games with the gamblers. The total bets were believed to exceed HK$6.3 million.”
Police found records of bets and winnings on the mobile phones of the three men arrested, later arresting another seven people in a building in the NAPE district where they seized further mobile phones, computers and gambling records.
The accused have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office for the offences of running a criminal syndicate and illicit operation of gambling in permitted premises.
