Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) has revealed another case of fake casino chips after three mainland men were arrested on suspicion of using such chips to defraud a casino and 11 other people of HK$600,000 (US$75,000).
The incident took place on the evening of 1 January, when the PJ was informed by a casino in Cotai that a dealer had found an unusual chip with a face value of HK$10,000 while at work, which was tested and found to be fake. Casino staff subsequently found the same kind of chips on a number of gamblers.
After investigation, the PJ and casino staff intercepted the three mainland men but they refused to cooperate. The investigation revealed that the men had been exchanging fake chips with gamblers and “money exchange gangs” inside and outside the casino since 8:30pm. One of the suspects also mixed fake chips with real chips and exchanged them for cash in the casino’s cage.
After arresting the three men, police seized 77 fake chips with a face value of HK$10,000 (US$1,250) each, plus HK$17,000 (US$2,125) cash suspected to be the proceeds of crime. The casino was found to have lost HK$20,000 (US$2,500) after counting, while 11 victims lost HK$580,000 (US$72,500) in total.
The PJ charged the three men with substantial fraud and referred them to the Public Prosecutions Office for follow-up.
In addition, the police also found that four of the 11 victims were members of a “money exchange gang ” suspected of committing the crime of illegal exchange, and are following up on the case.
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