7 held in latest crackdown on vice in Macau
Print Edition
CHINA’S fight against corruption has spread to the world’s largest gambling hub of Macau, where seven people including government officials are being investigated for graft, including accepting bribes.
The developments are in stark contrast to last year, when no high-profile officials were questioned about bribery, according to the website of Macau’s Commission Against Corruption.
In just a couple of decades, Macau has transformed itself from a crime-ridden backwater, where Triad gangs fought turf wars on the streets, to the world’s top gambling center, overtaking Las Vegas and attracting investors such as United States casino tycoons Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson.
The most recent corruption case, announced on the website on Thursday, involved two officials from the transport bureau, who were detained on suspicion of accepting bribes totalling 16 million patacas (US$2 million) from three companies that managed car parking spaces.
Commissioner Against Corruption Cheong Weng Chon was sworn in in December during a visit by President Xi Jinping and has pledged to support the mainland in its mission to stamp out corruption.
He said in March the bureau will “exert the best efforts to prevent Macau from turning into a transit point or destination for illicit money and corrupt officials fleeing the country.”
Other Macau cases have included the arrest of a chief prison officer on suspicion of receiving bribes, as well as lavish accommodation in return for providing special treatment to an inmate.
Two officials in the marine and water bureau, and two employees from the civil engineering laboratory are also under investigation, according to the commission’s website.
Macau’s public security bureau has also cracked down on prostitution, busting two organised syndicates in the past week, media said.
This follows the high-profile bust of a syndicate in January at SJM Holding’s Hotel Lisboa where police detained executive Alan Ho, the nephew of former Macau kingpin Stanley Ho.
The crackdown comes as gambling revenues are plummeting. Revenue for April is estimated to have dropped by about 40 percent.
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