Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) will get a new director, a spokesperson for the Office of Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong told The Macau Post Daily today.
Asked about media speculation that the bureau's current director, Paulo Martins Chan, would leave his post next month, the spokesperson said that both Chan and the Public Prosecution Office (MP) had requested Lei that he be allowed to return to his former post as assistant public prosecutor-general.
Chan has headed the gaming inspectorate since December 2015 on secondment from the Public Prosecution Office, which has a dozen assistant public prosecutors-general.
The spokesperson declined to comment on media speculation that Adriano Marques Ho, an advisor to Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak, would replace Chan. Ho is a former chief of the gaming crime investigation unit of the Judiciary Police (PJ). Wong is an ex-PJ director.
The spokesperson said that an announcement on Chan's replacement would be made in due course.
Macau's three gaming concessions and three sub-concessions will expire in 2022. The government has said that it will launch an international tender for gaming operators. The government announced last month that it will hold a public consultation on the future legal framework for the gaming sector by the end of the year. Any amendments to legislation on the gaming industry would have to be submitted by the government to the Legislative Assembly (AL) for debate and vote.
This photo taken in October last year shows Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Director Paulo Martins Chan speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Oktoberfest at MGM Cotai. Photo: Monica Leong