Economic Crime and Casinos: China’s Wager on Macau

Notwithstanding the results of some empirical studies, casinos and gambling are widely considered to be breeding grounds for a range of deviant behavior and criminal offenses. As one writer expressed it, “the world of gambling offers a portfolio of anonymous expenditure” which allows for money laundering and other illegal activities associated with the legal operation of casinos. This paper examines economic and white-collar criminal activities and case histories of offenses related to Macau’s growing casino industry, now the highest revenue generating in the world. A Portuguese colony from 1557 until 1999 when it was returned to China, Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) with its own governing officials operating under the PRC maxim of “one country, two systems.” The dramatic recent growth of the casino industry in Macau offers a unique opportunity to examine issues of economic crime and law enforcement within the context of the People’s Republic of China’s recently acquired political and economic stewardship in this SAR. The paper documents white-collar and organized crimes that present new challenges and risks to China now that Macau has become an international marquee.