Part IV: Financial Fraud · Chip, Cash & Ticket Fraud

Illegal Money Exchange for Gambling (Unlicensed Money Changers)

How it works

Unlicensed money changers offer players local cash in exchange for foreign currency, a bank or mobile transfer, or a card payment, usually around casino entrances, lobbies and cage queues. Because the payment is made outside the casino, the money moves past the casino’s own cash controls and know-your-customer checks. In Macau, running an unauthorised currency exchange business for gambling is a crime under Law 20/2024 (Article 11), punishable by up to five years in prison; currency exchange in a casino, including adjacent hotel, shopping, entertainment and cultural areas, is presumed to be for gambling. A conviction also carries an accessory penalty: a ban from entering gaming establishments for two to ten years (Article 15).

Where it appears

Players who want local cash quickly, especially visitors who face limits on moving money across borders

On the record

Macau’s Law 20/2024, the Law to Combat Illegal Gambling Crimes, was published in the Official Gazette on 28 October 2024 and took effect the next day. Article 11 created the crime of unlicensed money exchange for gambling, and Article 15 adds the ban from gaming establishments for anyone convicted of it.

Published as a detection reference for surveillance, compliance and gaming-operations professionals. Thresholds and tuning are set by the property. Nothing here is instruction: the method is described so it can be recognised.