Risk mitigation consultant Steve Vickers has praised the authorities’ crackdown on junket activities in recent years but warns that new risks are emerging, particularly from illicit online gambling.
“The moves against the junkets were timely and have been mostly effective, so that’s very positive,” Vickers said on the sidelines of a business luncheon held on Thursday by the British Chamber of Commerce in Macau.
The former head of the Hong Kong Police Criminal Intelligence Bureau noted that “for many years, the junkets supported triad societies and were heavily involved in siphoning off funds from the gaming system, which ultimately did not pass through Macau’s tax system.”
In late 2021 and early 2022, the city’s top junket operators—Suncity’s Alvin Chau and Tak Chun’s Levo Chan—were arrested and later sentenced to 18 and 13 years in jail, respectively, after being found guilty of illegal gambling, organised crime, and other charges.
“I spent my life fighting organised crime, and being able to knock out one of their big sources of revenue, I thought, was good,” he said, before stressing that authorities should not rest on their laurels. “The problem is like that whack-a-mole game—you hit one down, and another one pops up.”
As an example, he pointed to the persistent presence of illegal money changers, but warned that “the bigger problem going forward will be illicit online gambling, run by the same people who were previously involved in the junkets.”
Vickers also cautioned against the effects of “a sort of unofficial settlement system between here and Cambodia, Vietnam, and particularly the Philippines.”
The founder and CEO of Steve Vickers & Associates (SVA), a specialist risk mitigation, corporate intelligence, and security consulting firm, delivered a keynote address at the BritCham luncheon.
In his speech, he assessed the strategic risks for the Asia-Pacific region in 2025, focusing on US-China competition. He warned that the region “will face a much more challenging risk outlook in 2025,” as “confrontational Sino-American relations promise turbulence, and the security system that has guaranteed regional stability and prosperity will come under greater strain.”
Vickers also highlighted risks related to upcoming ‘tariff wars’, as well as tensions surrounding Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the Korean Peninsula.