Lawmakers in Macau have proposed jail terms of one to five years for people convicted of providing “illegal loans” for gambling at the city’s casinos.
According to GGRAsia, the provision is part of a draft bill entitled “Law to Combat Gambling Crimes,” which is now before the Legislative Assembly. The proposal would revise Macau’s current Illegal Gambling Regime.
The draft bill states that anyone “with the intention of obtaining a financial benefit for themselves or another person (who) provides someone with money or other means for gambling” will face a prison term within that range on conviction.
If the accused is determined to have required identification as a guarantee from borrowers, that person could face two to eight years behind bars.
In addition, those convicted of illegal exploitation of games of chance, coercion of others to gamble, giving others the means to gamble or fraudulent gambling could be banned from Macau gaming halls from two to 10 years and be considered members of a “secret association or society”; the latter determination could lead to longer prison terms. Non-resident offenders could be “expelled or banned” from visiting Macau for five to 10 years.
Finally, the proposal would increase jail sentences and “preventive detention” for gambling crimes including under-the-table or “multiplier” betting, a crime that was at the center of the criminal cases against Alvin Chau and Levo Chan, two junket kings who were sentenced to 18 and 14 years imprisonment, respectively, last year. Those cases signaled the end of junket dominance in Macau’s gaming industry. The men’s businesses, Suncity and Tak Chun, were dissolved after their arrests.
The new provisions also apply to iGaming, as reported by Inside Asian Gaming.
