Man sentenced for stealing from Marina Bay Sands Casino

A Malaysian man has received a jail sentence for his involvement in illicitly recording cards at the casino.

Singapore.- A Malaysian man named Tan Kian Yi, has been sentenced to three years and four months in jail for his involvement in illicit card recording at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino. A syndicate, which operated in Singapore in December 2022, had made SG$433,730 in winnings.

Tan pleaded guilty in October to four charges under the Casino Control Act. Tan’s alleged accomplices, Hung Jung-Hao and Chai Hee Keong, have been charged in a Singapore district court and are awaiting trial. According to the Straits Times, there were three other Taiwanese members of the syndicate.

At a gaming table in the casino, a female syndicate member, known as the “sorcerer”, wore a concealed earphone that was connected to her mobile phone via Bluetooth. She would relay card information to an accomplice stationed elsewhere, who would use an Excel spreadsheet formula to determine betting decisions.

Tan became involved in the syndicate after meeting Hung Yu-Wen in a Philippine casino in August 2022. Hung introduced Tan to Wang, and after visiting Singapore in October 2022, Tan agreed to join the syndicate. Casino staff discovered the syndicate’s activities through closed-circuit television footage, leading to the arrest of Hung Jung-Hao on December 24, 2022. The remaining members left Singapore the next day. 

Police seized casino chips worth over SG$790,000 from their rooms. Tan was arrested in Kuala Lumpur in February 2023 and brought back to Singapore.

See also: Marina Bay Sands data breach affected 665,000 customers