The police arrested a mainlander yesterday for promoting an online gaming website with the official emblem of the government of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said during a regular press conference yesterday.

According to Ho, the 27-year-old suspect surnamed Gao was caught at the G2E Asia gaming exhibition in Cotai when PJ officers were inspecting the exhibition hall yesterday morning. They discovered the inappropriate use of the emblem by chance, Ho said.

The three-day exhibition ends today.

Gao told the police that he is a customer service staff member for a computer game company. Ho did not reveal the name of the company.

When walking past his company’s booth, the PJ officers discovered that Gao was displaying a suspected online gaming website on his computer screen, which showed the words “Macau Special Administrative Region online licence” in Chinese – complete with the MSAR emblem.

According to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) website, the Macau government has never approved any online gaming licences. Therefore, any gaming websites operating under the name of Macau or local casinos are illegal.
According to Ho, Gao is suspected of involvement in fraudulent activities.
Ho said that Gao refused to cooperate with the police. He claimed that his company’s website merely sells an “entertainment product” that has nothing to do with gambling. Gao also claimed that he did not know anything about the “online licence” wording shown on his company’s computer screen.

The PJ officers took Gao’s computer, name cards and his company’s promotion leaflets from the booth to a police station for follow-up investigation.

According to Ho, Gao faces possible charges of computer-related forgery and illegal gaming activities. He was questioned but not arrested.

According to Article 10 of the Law on Fighting Computer Crime, computer-related forgery is punishable by up to three years behind bars, or a fine.

According to Article 1 of Law 8/96/M, operating gaming activities outside authorised venues is punishable by up to three years behind bars, or a fine.

According to a statement on the DICJ website yesterday, the bureau conducts daily inspections in conjunction with the Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and the Judiciary Police during gaming-related exhibition periods, monitoring if there are any illegal online gaming activities using the name of Macau, the Macau government or Macau casinos.

This photo taken on Tuesday shows a general view of the G2E Asia gaming expo at the Venetian in Cotai. Photo: Monica Leong

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