The Judiciary Police (PJ) have arrested a croupier and his brother-in-law for defrauding a casino out of HK$600,000 worth of chips, Judiciary Police spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during a special press conference on Friday.
Ho identified the suspects as a local 33-year-old male croupier surnamed Ho, and a 32-year-old man from the Chinese mainland surnamed Zhou, who claimed to be unemployed.
According to the spokesman, the Judiciary Police received a report from a casino on Wednesday morning stating that Ho and Zhou were suspected of defrauding the casino while Ho was on duty. At around 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, casino staff noticed that when Ho was on duty at a blackjack table, Zhou arrived and asked to have HK$10,000 exchanged for smaller denominations, the spokesman said.
However, during the exchange, Ho was observed handing Zhou six chips with a face value of HK$5,000 each, equivalent to HK$30,000 – suggesting that they were engaged in a “10,000 for 30,000” scam. Police were assigned to investigate, the spokesman said, adding that on Wednesday evening, while Ho was on duty at a dice table, Zhou reappeared and attempted the same scheme. PJ officers who had been lying in wait moved in and arrested both men.
The spokesman said that between July 25 and 29, Ho had colluded with Zhou on a total of nine occasions. The casino initially estimated that around HK$131,000 in chips had been lost, though, at the time of the press conference, the exact amount was still being calculated. The investigation revealed that the duo had been committing these offences since January this year, defrauding the casino of around HK$600,000 in chips to date. The spokesman added that the pair pooled their own funds to carry out the scheme and divided the proceeds equally.
PJ officers seized a smartphone and HK$70,000 in cash from Ho, as well as a smartphone, HK$50,000 in chips, and HK$28,000 in cash from Zhou.
The duo were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, each facing a charge of fraud. The Judiciary Police are continuing to trace the whereabouts of the remaining stolen funds and are conducting further investigations into the case, the spokesman said.
Evidence seized from Ho and Zhou is displayed during Friday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Judiciary Police
