Macau gaming regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), met with representatives of the SAR’s six concessionaires on Wednesday to remind them of their duty to closely monitor the activities of junket partners.
The meeting followed the publication of an article earlier this week by an affiliate of state-owned news agency Xinhua alleging that leading Macau VIP operator Suncity Group was offering online and proxy betting to players who gambled in its junket rooms. Suncity has vehemently denied those allegations.
In a Thursday statement, the DICJ said it had urged Macau’s concessionaires to closely supervise the junket promoters providing services in their casinos while reminding them that online and phone betting remained illegal. It added that if instances of online or phone betting were discovered, the DICJ must be notified immediately.
Any such instances would “affect the suitability of Macau’s gaming promoters,” the DICJ said in what appears to be a threat to strip junkets of their license to operate.
Inside Asian Gaming has contacted all six concessionaires for comment, with MGM China stating it “strongly condemns and will not accept any illegal online gaming activities carried out, in or from any of our properties in Macau SAR.”
As previously reported by IAG, Suncity Group has issued a statement denying the allegations made against it and reserving its right to take legal action.
Suncity currently operates 17 VIP clubs in Macau and 14 in overseas countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Australia.
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