These VIP clients even had a nickname - ganbu-lers - a pun on ganbu, which means party cadres.

One of them was town chief Li Weimin, who gambled away 90 million yuan (S$20 million) embezzled from the coffers of Tangxia, one of China's richest towns.

He was sentenced to 20 years' jail in 2006, and Macau lost a big customer. But there were other big spenders to take his place.

Since travel restrictions from mainland China to Macau - the only jurisdiction in China where gambling is legal - were eased in 2003, tens of millions have answered the casino hub's siren call.

They included officials who, state prosecutors say, supplemented their monthly pay of several thousand yuan with cash from state coffers and bribes.

For the full story, read Monday's edition of The Straits Times.