A Macau crime syndicate used fake chips to defraud one of Cotai’s most prominent casinos of HK$5.7 million (US$727,000), with Macau police arresting two mainland men and looking for at least six other fugitives.
The incident took place on the evening of 21 August, with a dealer retrieving chips from a table when he noticed that 10 chips valued at HK$10,000 (US$1,275) were unusually rough in texture. The chips were quickly identified and found to be counterfeit as they did not contain an RFID chip. The casino immediately called the police, who arrested two mainland men at the scene.
They ultimately found more than 200 counterfeit chips with a face value of HK$2.4 million (US$306,000) on the two mainland men.
After investigation, the police devised that the case involved a criminal syndicate of at least eight people. The syndicate had been working in the casino for more than two hours, using the fake chips to place bets and exchange them with gamblers.
At least six other members of the syndicate fled immediately after the arrest of the two persons and have absconded to mainland China.
According to the initial count of the casino in question, at least 493 fake chips had flowed into the casino, exchanged by 10 gamblers. The chips had been used to win more than HK$700,000 (US$89,260).
In the course of investigation, the police found that members of the syndicate had dumped some of the fake chips in rubbish bins on the street as they fled back to the mainland. Police eventually found 112 similar fake chips in a rubbish incineration centre.
A total of 804 fake chips have been found, resulting in a loss of at least HK$5.7 million to the casino.
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