THE RISING POPULARITY OF THE casinos at the two integrated resorts in Singapore brought about the inevitable – individuals trying to get around the system and cheat the casinos. In some cases, they were customers who worked as a team, in others, employees of the casinos collaborated with outsiders and schemed to cheat the casinos.
In March 2011, a former croupier at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino and a full-time gambler were each sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment for working together to cheat the casino of nearly $29,000. They had pleaded guilty to eight of the 96 charges for the offences committed between 2 and 9 October 2010.
Ng Wuey Kiang, was a croupier at the roulette table at RWS casino. His accomplice, Leong Teck Leong was a full-time gambler who had lost over $50,000 at the casino.
Together, they tried to rig the game so that they would beat the odds. Leong would place his bets within a specific region. Ng would then control the movement of the ball so that it would always land within a pre-determined area. In the event that the ball landed out of the region where Leong placed his bets, Ng would ensure that the losses were recouped by overpaying Leong the next time he won. Between 2 and 9 October 2010, Ng had overpaid Leong by about $1,700. In return, Ng received 35 per cent of Leong’s winnings. A shift manager at the casino noticed what was going on and informed the authorities.
District Judge Jashendar Kaur said that a severe sentence was necessary due to the large amount involved and the “blatant and persistent” acts of crime that took place on five different days.
In December 2013, a croupier at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment for working with accomplices to cheat the casino of nearly $217,000. His accomplices also received jail terms.
The mastermind of the scheme, Ho Keng Guan, was unemployed and in debt. He learnt from a casino employee that there were ways to cheat at baccarat, so he asked Yeo Eng Seng, a croupier at Marino Bay Sands, about this.
Yeo himself had lost a large amount of money at another casino and so he came up with a scheme to cheat at baccarat. Yeo knew that every time a deck of cards was used, a fresh deck would be required. The pit supervisor would be the one who cuts the deck by placing the second half of the deck on top of the first half. This gave Yeo the opportunity to see part of the series of cards. Yeo would then memorise the sequence of the cards he saw.
Yeo would secretly inform his accomplices of the card sequence and they would then place bets that ensured they would win. Yeo’s cut of the winnings was about $71,500. However, the scheme was discovered during a routine check of surveillance footage.
Yeo received a sentence of 22 months in jail. Ho Keng Guan, the mastermind also received a jail term of 22 months, and his wife, Lee Mee Leng, was sentenced to 14 months’ jail. Ho and Lee’s cut was about $140,300. Two other accomplices also received jail terms. Lim Boon Kwang, a Singapore Civil Defence Force staff sergeant, and Leow Pui Lee, a storekeeper, were each sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. The courts heard that they were part of the scam only at a later stage. Lim received $2,588 and Leow received $2,325 for their part in the scam.
Video surveillance officers at casinos are supposed to ensure that cheating does not happen at the casinos. So what happens when the very person tasked with preventing fraud is part of a scam to cheat the casino? That was exactly what happened in the case of Ho Boon Keat, a video surveillance officer at the MBS casino
Ho’s job involved checking video footage to see if wagers placed were valid, in the event that a pit manager raised doubts about the bets placed. Between 16 July and 14 August 2010, Ho had helped four conmen on 33 occasions to deceive the pit manager and to cheat MBS of nearly $150,000.
Whenever Ho was on duty, the conmen would play at the Sic Bo tables. The game involves three dice being rolled. If a bet has been placed on a certain number, and all three dice show the same number after being rolled, the gambler stands to win up to 180 times their bet.
Ho’s accomplices would place a $25 bet in the event that a triple had been rolled. When the pit manager called Ho to confirm if the bets were valid, Ho would deceive the pit manager by confirming that the bets were placed before the dice had fallen.
Ho’s accomplices were Benson Ho, Ang Chee Peng, Bai Qipei and Toh Kaida.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kavitha Kandesan argued for a heavier sentence as it was the first case of a video surveillance operator abusing the trust of his employer to cheat the casino and said that Ho had damaged the integrity and reputation of Singapore.
Ho’s lawyer however argued that there was nothing to suggest that Singapore’s reputation was harmed. Ho had also paid back the $50,000 that he got out of the scam.
District Judge Eddy Tham agreed with the prosecution that Ho’s duty at the casino made him pivotal to the success of the scam. As such, he sentenced him to three years imprisonment.
Ang Chee Peng, an ex-specialist officer was sentenced to 2.5 years’ jail. He agreed to be part of the scam to pay of large credit card bills and loans of about $30,000. Ho had told Ang to recruit additional accomplices so that there would be different faces and suspicion would not be raised so easily. Ang then went on to recruit Benson, his colleague and Toh and Bai who he knew during national service.
Toh Kaida, a specialist army officer, had made restitution of $10,000 to the casino, and he was sentenced to two years’ jail.
Benson Ho, a former truck driver, received a 14-month jail sentence while Bai Qipei, a delivery man, was sentenced to five months’ jail.