Two cases of casino chip thefts last week have been solved, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a regular press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday.
According to Choi, the police received a report from a casino in Cotai last Wednesday about a man stealing chips from a gambler in the casino’s high limit area.
Choi identified the suspect as a 32-year-old man from the mainland surnamed Wei while the victim’s information was not given.
According to Choi, the victim was gambling in the area that afternoon with 15 chips each worth HK$10,000. Wei, who was carrying a plastic bottle which had double-sided adhesive tape stuck to the bottom of the bottle, approached the table where the victim was gambling and on five separate occasions lifted five chips worth HK$50,000 in total by placing the bottle on top of the chips.
The victim didn’t realise that some of his chips had been stolen until some gamblers at the same table told him about it. Wei was stopped and caught by security guards on the casino premises.
In a separate case, Choi said the police received a report from a casino on the peninsula last Thursday about a dealer stealing chips while on duty.
Choi identified the suspect as a local 55-year-old woman surnamed Chan, who has worked in the casino for over 10 years.
According to Choi, after checking the CCTV footage, the police discovered that Chan had stolen 15 chips worth HK$1,000 each while working on her table that day. She took the 15 chips from the chip float and put them into her pocket. The police arrived and found her with the stolen chips during her break.
Chan admitted that she has a gambling habit and recently lost most of her money, according to Choi. She sold chips she had stolen previously at less 10 percent than their nominal value, and with the money obtained she went to another casino to gamble.
The police believe that Chan stole chips worth around HK$65,000 between last month and her arrest. The police have transferred both suspects to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for further investigations, Choi said.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai poses during a regular press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. Photo: Joel Chu
