Gaming-related crimes up 13.5 pct in H1

Cecilia [email protected] The number of local gaming-related crimes jumped by 13.5 per cent year-on-year for the first half of the year, the Office of the Secretary for Security announced yesterday. According to official data, the Judiciary Police (PJ) opened files for 814 gaming-related crime cases during the first six months, compared to 717 gaming-related cases during the same period of 2015. In particular, loan-sharking cases surged by 52.3 per cent year-on-year to 233 cases, compared to 153 cases one year ago. Additionally, cases of false imprisonment recorded an increase of 27.1 per cent year-on-year, to 216 cases for the same period. “The reasons that the rates increased [for false imprisonment and loan-sharking] are the initiative actions to open files enforced by the police,” said the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak at a press briefing to review the crime data yesterday. “In addition, most of the cases happened inside casinos. There is no sign showing [these two types of crimes] spreading outside the casinos. Therefore the [increases] did not affect the general security of the society,” the official added. Gaming crimes spreading However, Mr. Wong noted that it is apparent that other gaming-related crimes and casino-debt disputes are occurring outside the gaming venues, given the recent death cases of debtors resulting from the false imprisonment, which increased in July and August this year. The secretary added that most of the victims and suspects in the reported cases during the first half were not local residents. According to the official data, 924 suspects involved in gaming-related cases were transferred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the first half of the year, an increase of 18 per cent compared to 783 suspects recorded in the corresponding period of 2015. Meanwhile, total crime cases amounted to 7,125 for the first half of the year, up by 1.4 per cent, or 100 cases, from the first half of 2015. The Secretary said the increase is because the security department has strengthened its enforcement against those over-stayers and illegal immigrants who were holding temporary permits to stay in the territory but failed to report to the police.

Gov’t confirms Uber’s “fines” over MOP10 mln The commissioner of the Public Security Police Force, Leong Man Cheong confirmed yesterday that car-hailing application Uber has paid over MOP10 million (US$1.25 million) to the authorities since the platform was launched in the city last October. At the press briefing to review the city’s crime data yesterday, the PSP head said the security department has prosecuted 379 cases of Uber drivers providing unlicensed taxi services in the past 10 months. According to the local laws, drivers providing unlicensed taxi services in the city will receive a fine of MOP30,000 if they are caught. But Mr. Leong explained yesterday that the amount of over MOP10 million paid by the car-hailing application represents deposits for the fines of 346 cases, in addition to exact fines for four other cases. At the moment, 29 Uber cars are being detained by the security body since the company has not paid the deposits of fines. Last week, directly-elected legislator José Pereira Coutinho told two Portuguese-language newspapers that Uber is considering suspending its services in Macau from the beginning of September, as it has been fined some MOP10 million by the local police since the launch of the platform in the city last October. In a reply to this newspaper’s enquiries, Uber claimed it had been issued “prohibitive fines” by the government. But Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak yesterday denied that his departments have suppressed the operations of the car-hailing platform in the city, claiming the authorities take actions in accordance with the local regulations. “The police force does not in particular fight against certain mobile application-based transport services… I am very concerned about the safety of the police force who are dealing with these issues as I have personally experienced the dangers of the enforcement actions,” Mr. Wong said yesterday. In addition, the Secretary denied that the decrease in the number of taxi violations is due to the government shifting its focus to combatting Uber operations. According to the official data, the number of taxi violations plunged by 30.5 per cent year-on-year to 2,112 cases during the first half of 2016. Of the total, 773 were related to drivers refusing passengers, while another 729 were for overcharging. “I don’t want to relate the two [taxi violations and Uber services] as interconnected. The enforcement on fighting against taxi violations has never been lessened,” he said.