12
avoid giving the impression that the casinos are anything more than a place where a few friends gather together, the operators are careful to remove surplus cash as soon as it is generated. Betting on credit is popular. The casinos will often operate loan sharking services.
2.41
Bookmaking is the other form of illegal gambling and, probably due to police pressure in the last year or so, is becoming extremely sophisticated. Many bookmaking operators fall into the catagory of small scale, receiving total bets of only a few thousand dollars for a race meeting. Many will belong to a syndicate. These small scale bookmakers need to be able to pass on bets to those higher up the scale if they do not have sufficient cash to be able to pay out several tens of thousands of dollars.
2.42
Syndicates are known to operate from the race tracks. Some bookmakers pass out their bets through small transmitters to a nearby flat overlooking the race tracks. The bets are then laid off to other centres. The reason for the use of illegal bookmakers at this level is that some of the bets could effectively alter the tote either by themselves or, more likely, because other punters will note that an influential and well known authority on horse racing has placed large bets and will follow suit, thereby bringing the tote price down.
2.43
In order to avoid police detection the lay off centres are now taking major precautions, utilizing various forms of technology to divert telephone lines from one premise to another and by using portaphones to transfer bets from Hong Kong to bookmakers stationed in Macau.
2.44
It has been proven that it is virtually impossible, with the present conspiracy laws, to show to the courts that a major conspiracy exists. The reason is that very few people in a syndicate are aware of the existence of a major plan. They may only know one or two others who are involved. A multitude of small conspiracy charges would have to be laid in some cases. The evidence will be so complex and time consuming that it is not worthwhile to proceed with such charges. In nearly all cases the courts will be seeing only a minute part of a major operation.