Macau junket under scrutiny

SCRUTINY over Macau’s junket operators has been stepped up by Nevada regulators. It has been alleged that these junkets have been connected to organised crime. An anonymous source told The Wall Street Journal that certain operators need to be kept an eye on; however he didn’t disclose who exactly they were.

Mark Lipparelli, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, told The Wall Street Journal that Macau junkets are “becoming an area of increased attention” for the regulator. Nevada law allows state-licensed casino companies to operate overseas without prior vetting from regulators but bars the companies from bringing “disrepute” to the state.

 The U.S. State Department acknowledges Macau “continues making considerable efforts” to develop an anti-money laundering framework that meets international standards.

“It should continue to strengthen interagency coordination to prevent money laundering in the gaming industry, especially by introducing robust oversight of junket operators. It also should implement mandatory cross-border currency reporting requirements,” the U.S. State Department report suggests

In other Macau related news and rumours, according to the Macaudailytimes.com, “CasinoLeaks-Macau made the headlines of yesterday’s Sunday Morning Post, with the biggest Hong Kong English language newspaper reporting that a “whistle-blowing site takes aim at organized crime in Macau’s casinos”.

It reported: “The Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau responded to CasinoLeaks-Macau and stressed that in selecting US operators, Macau had chosen the best. “We expect they will comply with all Macau laws, and it enforces that compliance,” a bureau spokesman said. “We will not be responding specifically to any of the matters raised by CasinoLeaks-Macau. It has no standing to raise issues regarding the operation of Macau’s casino regulatory system, and its motives for doing so are questionable,” he added. A gaming source quoted by the Sunday Morning Post comments on the “questionable” motives, saying that “some people might have an interest in creating problems for others who are benefiting from what has become by far the biggest money-making gaming destination in the world.”