The Judicial Police recently uncovered an illegal lending case involving “matching-fund” gambling, arresting a mainland Chinese man and woman while actively pursuing another male suspect currently on the run.
According to the case details, the arrested pair reached a “matching-fund” agreement with a gambler. Both sides contributed HK$500,000 to play baccarat, under the condition that the loan shark syndicate would skim 20% of the bet amount as interest whenever the gambler won a hand. When the victim’s chips were reduced to HK$880,000, a heated argument broke out over the interest calculation. By that time, approximately HK$200,000 in interest had already been forcibly deducted from the victim. Casino security guards on site intervened upon noticing the dispute and alerted the Judicial Police, who took the involved parties in for investigation.
Separately, the Judicial Police intensified surprise inspections at casinos in Cotai and the NAPE district, intercepting two mainland Chinese women engaged in illegal currency exchange (commonly known as “money changers”). During the operation, police seized HK$109,000 in casino chips, HK$44,000 in cash, and two mobile phones. Police revealed that one of the suspects, a 50-year-old woman, had been conducting illegal currency exchanges in casinos multiple times since 2025, generating estimated illicit profits of around HK$120,000 to date.
