Macau Police Bust Extortion Ring Targeting Casino Scammers
Macau’s Judiciary Police have dismantled an extortion network accused of blackmailing casino scammers and collecting an estimated HK$800,000 in illicit gains across Macau and Cotai since early 2025.
The operation came to light during a June probe launched by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) into a casino cheating scheme. While reviewing that case, investigators uncovered a second criminal layer targeting the cheaters themselves.
Authorities say the group of seven men and six women systematically extorted “cross-hand” scammers, demanding HK$100 to HK$500 at a time in exchange for not exposing their cheating.
Gang exploited casino fraudsters for hush money
According to PJ representative Ho Wai Lok, the extortion ring is linked to 35 incidents involving 10 individuals who used the “cross-hand” method pretending to wager on behalf of gamblers while using coded gestures to reroute funds and deceive players.
Police allege the blackmailers patrolled gaming floors, tracked successful cheating attempts and then confronted the scammers afterward, threatening to alert casino security or warn the victims unless they paid up.
Investigators estimate the group accumulated more than HK$800,000 from incidents across multiple peninsula and Cotai properties. In the related cheating cases, victims typically lost between HK$2,500 and HK$4,000.
Thirteen arrested; most illicit funds already gambled
Police believe a Macau resident surnamed Wong headed the group. The 13 suspects aged 52 to 82 and coming from Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China were all unemployed.
During coordinated searches in residential flats and casinos, authorities seized around HK$7,300 believed to be remaining proceeds, along with casino chips and 13 mobile phones used to coordinate the scheme. Police said most of the money had already been spent, mainly on gambling.
A separate investigation has now been opened into the 10 alleged casino scammers involved in the underlying fraud cases.
