A Malian court has refused provisional release to 10 Chinese nationals accused of running a clandestine casino in Bamako, leaving them in detention while the case continues.
RFI reported that the ruling came on 5 August and that the investigation had been kept secret for months in the capital. A source close to the case described the venue as a “true criminal enterprise.”
The alleged operation was said to have relied on local accomplices, false authorisations and protection from high-ranking officials. On some nights as many as 130 customers were said to have come through the doors, while alcohol was served and prostitutes frequented discreet rooms used for sex services.
At least 15 Chinese nationals were believed to have worked on site. Ten were arrested and jailed by Malian security forces, and they reportedly gave investigators information about local accomplices, including civilians and members of the security forces.
The sums involved were described as large, with weekly takings put at several hundred million CFA francs. ModernGhana said courts had attached a particularly high bail to any eventual release, and argued that a clandestine casino of this kind could not function without premises, customers, staff, money, administrative calm and officials willing to look the other way.
That report also said Bamako had already been grappling with mobile Chinese casinos in 2015. It warned that there was no public data at the time to prove a money-laundering scheme or to quantify the amounts involved, even if the case raised that risk.
The wider concern is not confined to Mali. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has separately said casinos, junkets and cryptocurrency exchanges have become a critical part of underground banking and money-laundering infrastructure in East and Southeast Asia.
Seneweb, citing RFI, said the investigation was ongoing and could still lead to further charges against others implicated.
