Ex-Hotel Lisboa chief gets 8 years for running prostitution ring

The Court of Second Instance (TSI) has announced that it decided to increase the prison term of former Hotel Lisboa executive director Alan Ho Yau Lun for his involvement in the running of a huge prostitution racket at the 5-star casino-hotel from just 13 months to eight years. The sentence, which was released on the court’s official website yesterday, was dated November 28. In March 2016, Ho, a nephew of nonagenarian casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung Sun, was immediately released when his

December 2, 2019 | BY admin

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Oct package tour visitors drop 35 pct

Macau’s package tour visitor arrivals dropped to 509,000 in October, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.According to a DSEC statement on Friday, apart from a 19.2 percent growth in package tour visitors from Malaysia to 5,500, all other countries and regions recorded year-on-year decreases, with those from the Chinese mainland (380,000), Taiwan (60,000) and South Korea (33,000) dropped by 38.5 percent, 42.5 percent and 37.6 percent respectively.Nearly 88 percent of all

December 2, 2019 | BY admin

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Hotel guests rise 1.7 pct to 11.7 million in Jan-Oct

Some 11.7 million guests checked into Macau’s 121 hotels and guesthouses in the first 10 months of the year, a year-on-year growth of 1.7 percent, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.According to a DSEC statement on Friday, guest rooms’ average occupancy rate edged up by 0.2 percentage points to 90.6 percent. Guests’ average length of stay remained unchanged at 1.5 nights.The number of guests rooms available in October dipped by 0.6 percent year-on-year to 38,000, of

December 2, 2019 | BY admin

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Beauty care, cosmetics imports rise 36 pct in Jan-Oct

Macau’s imports of beauty, cosmetics and skin-care products rose 35.8 percent year-on-year to 5.39 billion patacas in the first 10 months of the year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.In October, the import value of the three products leapt 60 percent year-on-year to 849 million patacas, according to a DSEC statement on Friday.Food and beverages continued to be Macau’s number-one import segment, reaching 11.37 billion patacas, up 4.7 percent from the same 10-month

December 2, 2019 | BY admin

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Gaming receipts drop 8.5 pct in Oct, 2nd highest dip this year

Macau’s casinos showed further weakness last month as the world’s largest gambling hub is heading toward its first annual revenue decline in three years.Gross gaming revenue amounted to 22.87 billion patacas in November, down 8.5 percent from a year earlier, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced yesterday. That was slightly better than Bloomberg’s median analyst forecast of a 10 percent fall. Last month recorded the second highest revenue drop this year, after

December 2, 2019 | BY admin

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Police nab 7 sex workers, 3 clients

The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested seven prostitutes and three clients in Rua Um do Bairro Iao Hon on Friday evening, PJ spokesman Choi Ian Fai said in a press conference at the scene during the operation.Choi identified the sex workers as mainlanders from Guangxi, Hubei and Hunan aged between 34 and 48.During a routine anti-prostitution patrol in Iao Hon on Friday, PJ officers discovered that three prostitutes were soliciting customers in the street, Choi said, adding that the police

December 2, 2019 | BY admin

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33 locals lose 13.7 million patacas in online love scam: police

Three male and thirty female local residents aged between 26 and 65 have been conned by an international internet love scam ring, in which they lost around 13.7 million patacas in total, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a special press conference yesterday.Among the 33 local victims, three did not suffer a financial loss, while the remainder suffered financial losses ranging from 10,000 patacas to 6 million patacas.Choi said that in recent years the number of online love

November 29, 2019 | BY admin

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Explore the Light: neighbourhoods to shine at festival

It’s rare to see fancy light installations in the city’s densely populated Northern District but this year’s Macau Light Festival is adding a sparkle to the area that aims to connect communities there, evoking memories and telling stories through thousands of lights.This is the fifth year the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) is organising the Macau Light Festival. Themed “Explore the Light”, this year’s programme taking place from Sunday to December 31 will illuminate the city

November 29, 2019 | BY admin

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Nicolas Tse heads Macau’s 1st food-music fest

Hong Kong’s multi-talented celebrity Nicolas Tse Ting-fung, who has added a culinary career to his long CV in recent years with the brand “Chef Nic”, has joined the MGM team to create delicacies for the “MGM Chef Nic Gastronmusic Fest” taking place at MGM Cotai this weekend.According to an MGM statement, the event will be the first ever gourmet-cum-music festival in collaboration with Tse together with his team members and about 16 renowned chefs to take place in town.The 39-year-old

November 29, 2019 | BY admin

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Loan sharks hold gamblers in suspected illegal inn: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have arrested seven members of a loan-sharking gang which falsely imprisoned three gamblers in a residential unit in Areia Preta district suspected of being used as an illegal inn after the three victims were unable to repay their respective gambling loans, PJ spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a regular press conference yesterday.According to Choi, all seven male suspects, aged between 28 and 42, are mainlanders. The three gamblers, a male and two female mainlanders,

November 29, 2019 | BY admin

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4 injured in traffic accident on Friendship Bridge

Three men and a woman were slightly injured in a traffic accident involving three cars and a scooter on the Macau-Taipa Friendship Bridge yesterday, the Fire Services Bureau (CB) said in a statement.The accident happened at around 12 noon in the direction from Taipa to the peninsula. The four people were taken to hospital for treatment. There was no follow-up information by the authorities on their condition.The accident caused a major traffic jam as traffic police officers were investigating

November 29, 2019 | BY admin

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Filipino removes parts from 2 motorbikes, sells them back home: police

The Public Security Police (PSP) arrested a male non-resident worker from the Philippines on Monday for removing parts from two motorcycles parked around Rua do Almirante Sérgio in the Inner Harbour area and then selling them in the Philippines last month, PSP spokesman Ho Ka Kit said during a regular press conference yesterday.The suspect stole parts from the two motorcycles on a total of three occasions – parts from one of the two motorcycles twice and parts from the other motorcycle

November 29, 2019 | BY admin

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New pact exempts local govt from income tax on mainland investments

The local government will be exempted from income tax when investing in the mainland, once a new deal under the Mainland-Macau agreement to avoid double taxation comes into effect, the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) said in a statement yesterday.The Fourth Protocol to the Arrangement between the Mainland and the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Evasion of Income Tax exempts from income tax investments made by the local

November 29, 2019 | BY admin

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Govt launches new round of HOS applications, 1st since 2013

The government launched a new round of applications yesterday for 3,011 subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) flats on the land reclamation area officially known as Zone A.The application period will end on March 26 next year.A press conference about the new round of applications for the 3,011 units was held yesterday at the Housing Bureau (IH) in Ilha Verde.The 3,011 HOS flats, which will be built on three plots on Zone A, comprise 760 one-bedroom units, 998 two-bedroom units, and 1,253

November 28, 2019 | BY admin

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