The Judiciary Police (PJ) uncovered a large-scale fraud operation involving a criminal group using counterfeit casino chips. The case involves 14 suspects, all mainlanders.
The police received a report stating that fake chips had been used in a casino.
During the investigation, it was discovered that 13 gamblers had used fake chips. The police quickly conducted an investigation in collaboration with security guards and identified five men suspected of deliberately using fake chips in the casino.
An investigation revealed that on April 30, the group of suspects arrived in Macau from the mainland.
They inspected the casino where the fraud occurred and divided their fake chips into multiple pockets.
The five suspects brought MOP10,000 worth of fake chips to the casino for gambling. After the crime, they returned to the mainland and divided the stolen proceeds among themselves. They successfully defrauded the casino using at least 149 counterfeit chips, causing a temporary loss of MOP1.8 million according to the gaming company’s assessment.
The PJ found a total of 585 fake chips, equivalent to HKD5.84 million, with 130 of them in the casino and 113 on the five detainees.
When questioned, suspects revealed that the criminal group organized and centralized their planning and training at a mainland hotel, where they were briefed by the syndicate’s leadership on the plan, trained in the modus operandi, and supplied with fake chips.
Upon entering a casino, they mixed genuine casino chips with fake chips concealed in their socks.
Some individuals involved in the case managed to evade capture due to the criminal group’s decentralized structure, with regular members never meeting the kingpin of the group in person. Communication was strictly limited to text messages, with no video or voice calls to further conceal their identities.
The fugitives remain at large and investigations are ongoing to apprehend other individuals associated with the syndicate. Staff Reporter
