Which reported a 45% jump in the number of suspected loan fraud cases.
Authorities in the previous Portuguese enclave label case consider the case to be game-related if it occurs in casinos or nearby areas, and police reported 348 suspected cases of usury from January to the end of September, and the third-quarter figure rose 32.2% year-on-year to 115. In addition, suspected cases of illegal detention related to loan shakes generally rose 13.3% year-on-year to 349 and the third-quarter figure rose 3.6%. Over the course of nine months, the majority of victims of the loan business and illegal detention cases were "non-Macao residents," most of which took place inside casinos, meaning these incidents "did not [negative] impact the overall public security of Macao." According to official figures from January to the end of September, a total of 1,443 suspects were submitted to the prosecutor's office for further processing of game-related criminal charges, up 12.5 percent year-on-year. According to reports, the city's most senior judge warned last month that Macau's image could be negatively affected if crimes there were to rise or be allowed to spread from casinos, but the year-on-year growth in gambling-related crimes slowed over the third quarter. Casinos in Macau saw their total game sales rise 8.8% year-on-year to $2.73 billion, despite rising gambling-related crimes, marking the third consecutive month of growth.