Taiwan has indicted about ten people in a money-laundering scheme related to a Macau casino worth nearly $1-billion.
These indictments were filed in Taiwan’s Yunlin District Prosecutor’s Office under Taiwan’s Money Laundering Control Act. This is the first case of this type of money-laundering scheme by using casino chips to move money across borders.
In the scheme, money was transferred from illegal gambling to an individual, then each individual overpaid their credit card in order to increase their limit on their credit card. They would then use that credit card in Macau to purchase casino chips that would later be turned into cash or foreign currency–often with no gaming occurring.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau first released information about this case in February, followed by the raid and arrest of about 20 suspects in March. Of the total amount of money suspected to be laundered, authorities have traced about TWD $278 million (US $8.4 million) to individuals and frozen TWD $230 million (US $7 million) in bank accounts, along with cash. Investigators have found about 85 credit cards associated with this scheme.
This case highlights the continuing threat posed by casino chip purchases and the use of third-party agents to hide the source of funds, and makes enforcement that much more complicated.
