A man in Macau has been arrested by local police for allegedly exchanging cash for casino chips in an unauthorized transaction.
The Chinese-born suspect was caught exchanging Chinese currency Renminbi (RMB) for casino chips near a hotel in Macau’s NAPE district. As originally reported by Macau Daily via Gambling Insider, the exchange involved around $392 worth of RMB and HK$3,000 worth of chips.
The operation to arrest the suspect took plane on Sunday, June 15 in an effort to prohibit illegal currency exchange transactions. The suspect, along with a believed female accomplice, was surveilled and ultimately arrested by local police. The woman was then later caught gambling with HK$3,000 in chips linked to the transaction, before being detained herself.
Macau police seized assets
Macau police also seized a total of HK$35,000 ($4,500 USD) in chips and cash as part of the operation, with assets thought to be related to a series of illegal exchanges throughout the month.
The Macau authorities told the press that the male suspect is unemployed with mainland China residency and is aged in his thirties. He admitted to engaging in the exchange with the police and said that he had made HK$1,000 ($127 USD) in profit so far, having only started conducting such illegal activities recently.
Macau police investigators believe that he intended to use the remaining chips that they seized and the rest of the cash for further unauthorized exchanges.
The man has now been formally charged with conducting an illegal currency exchange for gambling purposes. The case has been handed over to the Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation, with a possible maximum punishment of five years in prison in Macau.
The operation from authorities comes as Macau began investing more in cracking down on such illicit activities in the last few months.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
