Foreigners accused of cheating casinos
Feb 19, 2024
By Elena Chong
A TANZANIAN has been charged with trying to cheat the newly opened Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino of $35,000 in a roulette game.
Kipuyo Lemburis Israel, 34, was brought to court last Friday for allegedly trying to cheat a dealer on duty at a roulette table at MBS by past-posting.
Past-posting is the act of placing the bet after the result is known.
He is said to have intentionally placed a chip with a cash value of $1,000 on a single number bet last Thursday after the result had been declared, to induce the dealer to pay him $35,000 worth of chips.
The amount is the largest so far in a casino-related crime here.
MBS, which opened on April 27, is the Republic’s second integrated resort, after Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), which opened in February.
Kipuyo has been remanded for investigation and is due back in court tomorrow.
Another foreigner will also make his second appearance in court tomorrow after he was charged last Saturday with cheating at the RWS casino, also in a roulette game.
Sibongile Arthur Mgxashe, 33, a South African, allegedly cheated a dealer at a roulette table last Friday by intentionally placing chips with a value of $220 on the winning bet after the result had been declared.
He was paid the winnings of $7,700 for his $220 bet even though he was not entitled to it.
If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
Attempted cheating carries a penalty of up to five years in jail and a fine.
Meanwhile, a district judge has issued warrants for the arrest of three Europeans who absconded after they were charged with cheating RWS.
All had been freed on bail, pending trial.
District Judge Chia Wee Kiat issued the warrants after counsel for the trio – Thierry Laurent Michel Fabrice, 46, Pintado Jose Lopez, 64, and Reynald Georges Victor Lasnel, 61 – informed the judge during a pre-trial conference that he could not contact his clients.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
For more The Straits Times stories, click here.
Foreigners accused of cheating casinos
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