Two local women were arrested on Wednesday for running an illegal mahjong gambling venue along with 16 others allegedly involved in the case, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said at a regular press conference yesterday
Yesterday’s press conference was held at the Public Security Police’s (PSP) headquarters in Zape.
According to Macau’s gaming law, only its six gaming concessionaires are permitted to run games of chance for commercial purposes, including mahjong (also known in Cantonese as mahjeuk).
The 40-year-old female operator surnamed Chong told the police that she is jobless. Chong had hired a 39-year-old female surnamed Leong who was paid 10,000 patacas for cleaning and running the den.
According to Cheong, the Judiciary Police received reports on May 29 and July 4, respectively, about illegal mahjong gambling activities in a shopping mall in the Iao Hon district. They raided a shop on the second floor in the mall where they found 16 individuals suspected of participating in mahjong gambling, apart from Chong and Leong. All four mahjong tables in the shop were occupied by gamblers when the police started the raid. The shop’s door was electronically locked when the police arrived.
Under questioning, Chong told the police that she had rented the shop for gambling activities since May 2025 for a monthly sum of HK$8,500. The opening hours were from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m., charging customers 60 patacas per hour as “table rent” and “water money” (水錢).* The 16 gamblers, who turned witnesses, told the police that they had learnt of the place through friends.
Since she launched the mahjong den, Chong had made a profit of about 180,000 patacas.
Leong and Chong have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) and each is facing a charge of running an illegal mahjong gambling operation.
* In some contexts, particularly in informal or underground settings, “water money” (“soi chin” in Cantonese) refers to the interest or fees charged on loans, especially in gambling. It can also refer to the commission or cut taken by a middleman or organiser in such activities. For instance, in a gambling context, the “house” (operator) might take a certain percentage of the winnings as “water money”. – DeepSeek
Young local woman loses almost HK$1 million in ‘fake police’ scam
Meanwhile, a young local woman has fallen victim to a “fake police” scam, losing HK$ 951,250, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Cheong said the victim received a call from an unknown number, where a Putonghua-speaking caller claimed to be an “officer from the Pac On Immigration Office”, alleging that the victim’s phone number was sending numerous scam messages and demanding cooperation in an ongoing investigation. The call was then transferred to a purported “mainland police officer,” who alleged the victim’s involvement in a transnational money laundering case.
According to Cheong, the scammer instructed the victim to sign a confidentiality agreement and proceed with the investigation via video call. Seeing the scammer dressed in a blue police uniform, the victim believed the claims and complied by enabling the screen-sharing functionality on their phone, paying a “security deposit,” and staying mum on the investigation.
Cheong said that the victim transferred HK$951,250 to a designated account in a neighbouring region as instructed by the scammers at noon on Wednesday, but only realised the potential fraud after seeing online anti-scam information later that day, subsequently reporting the case to police around 5 p.m.
The Judiciary Police (PJ) confirmed that the funds could not be frozen through emergency measures and are currently investigating the money trail and suspects’ whereabouts, with no arrests made so far.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Armindo Neves
