A former baccarat dealer at the Star Sydney has been sentenced to two years imprisonment plus 250 hours of community service for his part in a casino scam that saw he and two accomplices net almost AU$500,000 (US$368,000) in 2020.
According the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA), Hieu Duc Lam was captured on CCTV footage working with another employee and a patron to execute the scam, in which he would look at and memorise the order of cards at the start of each shoe then message the patron via a secure messaging app on his phone.
The trio managed to steal AU$467,700 (US$345,000) in less than a month before being caught.
Lam was subsequently sacked by The Star and convicted of 15 counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage. His two-year sentence is to be served by way of Intensive Correction Order, or strict community supervision, with another 250 hours of community service work.
“A casino special employee is licensed to supervise and facilitate gaming activities,” said ILGA chairman Philip Crawford.
“Their role is to help safeguard the integrity of casino operations from criminal influence, serious misconduct or exploitation, and a special degree of trust is placed in them. This case demonstrates a clear breach of that trust.”
The regulator said another two Star Casino employees were sacked and convicted in March after attempting to steal more than AU$30,000 in gaming chips.
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