US authorities are investigating the flow of money from Macau to ensure that American casinos with operations there are not used to funnel crime proceeds from Asia into the US financial system.
Agents of the US Internal Revenue Service's criminal enforcement unit travelled to Macau last month to gather information. The US Treasury Department's anti-money laundering unit has also been closely examining money flow from Macau casinos.
Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts entered the Chinese territory over a decade ago. The goal of the agents' trip may have been to audit transactions flowing from Macau to US casinos.
US Treasury officials have publicly expressed concern that funds of dubious origin may be flowing from Macau to Las Vegas to fund gambling by Chinese high rollers, which could facilitate the laundering of large sums if US casinos lack proper controls to detect suspicious transactions.
