Some fake chips created for casino play, carrying an “SJM” logo on the tags, were found at a Macau casino, with the scammers eventually able to cash out some value in legitimate chips, resulting in a HKD190,000 (US$24,500) fraud, reported local media, citing a briefing from the city’s Judiciary Police.
The scam, said to involve high-quality counterfeits purchased online, was detected at a casino in the city’s “central district” on October 26, according to the reports. The police did not identify the venue by name.
A suspect, a 51-year-old male from mainland China, was arrested on Friday (January 8) after returning to the city.
According to the police, the suspect admitted that 150 counterfeit chips were bought online for CNY60,000 (US$9,293), by the suspect and another man from the mainland, with both said to be aware the casino currency was fake.
The second man is still at large, although his identity is said to be known to the Judiciary Police.
A total of 100 of the bogus chips was brought to the casino, said the police. An aggregate of 38, each with a face value of HKD5,000, were detected by the casino.
The suspects allegedly used counterfeit chips at several gaming tables to change into real chips with a smaller denomination, then went to cash out the legitimate chips from the cage. Four legitimate gamblers were said to have unwittingly received chips from the dud batch.
At 6pm on the day of the alleged fraud, casino staff questioned some patrons, including one suspect, but did not at that time link him with alleged wrongdoing. At that time, the now-detained suspect had immediately left the casino and returned to the mainland.
On his return and arrest, he was said to have told police that the proceeds of the alleged fraud had already been spent.
The detained suspect was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office for processing, said the Judiciary Police.
