China Sentences Man to Six Years for Organizing Illegal Gambling in Macau

China’s Supreme People’s Court has handed down a six-year sentence to a man who has been suspected and subsequently convicted of running an organized criminal enterprise in Macau. The criminal group would see people from mainland China visit the Special Administrative Region for the purposes of gambling at unlicensed venues and under the radar.

Large-Scale Gambling Ring Busted; Ringleader Sentenced to Six Years

Junkets have been heavily restricted in the SAR, and Macau has been urged by Beijing to seek and diversify its economy beyond gambling. The convict, Ng X Pan, started running illegal gambling back in 2005 when he would reach out to players personally, through telephone, word-of-mouth or by meeting interested parties face-to-face.

The private tours would take place in remote areas and away from surveillance in a bid to obfuscate the gambling operation’s tracks. The case is quite significant, and the operations have amassed an estimated $41.2 million by the time of discovery – back in August 2022, according to investigators and evidence presented at Ng’s trial.

Ng was ultimately found guilty of providing mainland players with the logistics necessary to participate in gambling games that were not licensed. His sentence of six years was awarded by the Supreme People’s Court, which published a detailed statement about Ng’s offenses and breaches of gambling statutes.

The court argued that it has been aware of the practice of operations based overseas and beyond the mainland targeting nationals and seducing them to gamble at what has been described as “offshore casinos.”

The court also reminded that professional criminal gangs are taking advantage of residents in Macau and the mainland and abducting people to places such as Myanmar and Thailand forcing them to become parts of criminal enterprises that involve online gambling and Internet fraud.

Drop in the Ocean as Illegal Gambling Still Thrives Beyond State Border

As to the current bust, the court and investigators are not entirely convinced that the $41.2 million seized in August 2022 is the full amount. Ng may have been a part of a much larger organization whose financials and illicitly gained funds may have been much larger.

A recent case involving Wang Xing, a famous actor from the mainland, saw the man kidnapped and forced to work by criminals.

After Beijing protested, Thailand conducted a large-scale operation to save the man from his captors, but lingering fears about overseas criminal organizations continue as China has vowed to continue pursuing wrongdoers beyond its state’s borders.