Business Insider – A stunning $202 billion in “ill-gotten funds are channeled through Macau each year,” according to The Congressional-Executive Commission on China Annual Report 2013.

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks claimed that the casino and hospitality sector accounted for over 50% of Macau’s GDP but that, “its phenomenal success is based on a formula that facilitates if not encourages money laundering.”

And a lot of that money comes from China.

Macau casinos pulled in a record 36.5 billion patacas ($4.57 billion) in revenue in October, largely driven by Chinese visitors.

In 1999, Macau saw 800,000 mainland Chinese tourists.  That figure exploded to about 12 million in 2008 and then 17 billion in 2012. In 2012, another 11 million visitors came from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks claimed that the casino and hospitality sector accounted for over 50% of Macau’s GDP but that, “its phenomenal success is based on a formula that facilitates if not encourages money laundering.”