The Judiciary Police (PJ) have busted a gang using fake chips to cheat a casino and other gamblers out of at least HK$1.8 million in just one hour of gambling, seizing a total of 585 counterfeit HK$10,000 gaming chips, according to a special press conference yesterday.
PJ Gaming-related and Economic Crimes Investigation Department Chief Tang Kam Va said during the press conference that the gang started operating in March, with the kingpins in the mainland giving orders to their key members, recruiting new members to gamble away the bogus casino chips in Macau’s casinos, who then were asked to hand over, upon completion of the operation, the genuine casino chips which they won to the gang in the mainland. Tang pointed out that the fake chips have a nominal value of HK$10,000 each and were high quality fakes and indistinguishable from genuine ones to the naked eye.
The Judiciary Police received a report from a casino in Cotai on Tuesday, saying that when one of its gamblers went to the cage cashier to exchange 10 HK$10,000 chips for cash, one of the chips was found to be different and was suspected to be fake, Tang said, noting that in the course of the investigation, PJ officers received other reports from 14 non-resident gamblers about the counterfeit casino chips.
According to Tang, the Judiciary Police, with the help of the casino security guards, arrested five suspected gang members at the casino, but at least three of their accomplices had meanwhile fled the scene.
In the operation, the Judiciary Police seized a total of 585 counterfeit chips, of which 130 were found on the casino premises, 22 were found on the 14 bona fide gamblers, a total of 311 were seized from the five suspects, while the remainder were found in the public toilets at the Barrier Gate checkpoint and in the boot of a taxi, all left behind by the suspects at large.
According to the press conference, the arrested male quintet, aged between 21 and 28, are surnamed Li, Chen, Wang, Qian, and Wang. They were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of organised crime and fraud involving a considerably large amount of money.
‘Gambler’ steals chips using double-sided adhesive tape
Meanwhile, the Judiciary Police also arrested on Tuesday a mainland man for stealing, on two occasions, a HK$50,000 casino chip each time from gamblers at casinos in Cotai by sticking double-sided adhesive tape onto his palm, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said during yesterday’s press conference following the fraud case.
The jobless suspect, aged 38, is surnamed Fu.
According to Chan, the Judiciary Police were notified by a casino in Cotai on Tuesday night that the suspect had stolen a HK$50,000 chip from a gambler while pretending to be a first-time gambler to casino betting.
Chan said that Fu was intercepted by casino security guards after he was spotted by other gamblers in the casino.
Chan added that a PJ investigation found that Fu was also involved in another theft case, which took place in another casino in Cotai, also involving a HK$50,000 chip: “The suspect returned to the mainland after the first successful crime, and then re-entered Macau last Friday to commit the same kind of crime again on Tuesday”.
Chan noted that Fu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing an aggravated theft charge.
Evidence seized from the five fraud suspects from the mainland such as fake HK$10,000 casino chips is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
