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Jan 27, 2011
112 nabbed for casino crimes in first year
Most are petty offences; no sign of activity by organised syndicates yet
By Tham Yuen-C
Experts say that with more high rollers showing up at Singapore's casinos, organised crime may one day become a threat and that such crimes take a longer time to detect. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
IN THE 12 months since the first casino opened here, police have nabbed 112 people for casino-related crimes.
Among them were those who had stolen casino chips, cheated at the gambling tables and impersonated other people to gain entry into the two casinos at Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands.
These petty crimes accounted for the majority of the dodgy dealings linked to casinos last year, police said yesterday after releasing statistics on casino crime.
Within the first four days of the opening of the Resorts World Sentosa casino in February last year, eight people were arrested for theft and cheating.
Of these, three were foreigners - one Indonesian and two Mongolians. This incidence of foreigners committing crimes at the casinos here continued throughout the year.
Although more than half of all casino patrons are reportedly Singaporeans and permanent residents, the majority, or 60 per cent, of those arrested for casino crimes were foreigners.
Compared to other places with casinos, the casino-related crime rate here is considered low, at just 0.3 per cent of all crimes committed.
'That is a very good number. Relatively speaking, it is very small,' said Dr Davis Fong, director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau.
In Macau last year, crimes linked to the 33 casinos there made up some 15 per cent of all crime cases reported there.
So far, organised crime that plagues other casino hot spots has also been kept at bay here, said the police.
Their investigations revealed that most of the casino crimes reported last year were opportunistic and low-level.
Experts caution, though, that things could change with more premium gamblers, also known as whales, showing up.
'Major criminal elements tend to closely follow the 'whales',' said Dr Derek da Cunha, author of Singapore Places Its Bets, a book on�the social and economic impact of the entry of casinos here.
'This is because you will then be dealing with astronomical sums of money which organised crime syndicates might find too�lucrative to pass up.'
The more elaborate types of wrongdoing also take a while to detect. Sometimes, it can take one or two years for the surveillance department of a casino to detect cheating, especially in cases where staff conspire with crime syndicates, said Dr Fong.
'You may need to look back at the records for two years to spot a pattern,' he added.
Indeed, crime involving casino staff has already popped up.
In October last year, the court heard its first case of an employee - a pit supervisor - and patron ganging up to cheat Marina Bay Sands of $31,500 by manipulating a Money Wheel game.
In November, Taiwanese Chiu Yee Fong, 30, who worked as a croupier, was charged with taking $111,400 worth of chips from Resorts World Sentosa.
In Macau, it is the casino employees who commonly succumb to the temptation of cheating.
Dr Fong has also seen cases of crime syndicates recruiting down-and-out gamblers who need money to pay off debts.
Counsellors also speak of problem gamblers desperate for money to bet further to recoup losses. 'They can turn to crime,' said Mr Dick Lum, executive director of The Hiding Place.
As a counsellor at the halfway house that provides help to compulsive gamblers, Mr Lum has seen an increase in the number of gamblers who have stolen to support their habit.
[email protected]
Jan 27, 2011
112 nabbed for casino crimes in first year
Most are petty offences; no sign of activity by organised syndicates yet
By Tham Yuen-C
Experts say that with more high rollers showing up at Singapore's casinos, organised crime may one day become a threat and that such crimes take a longer time to detect. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
IN THE 12 months since the first casino opened here, police have nabbed 112 people for casino-related crimes.
Among them were those who had stolen casino chips, cheated at the gambling tables and impersonated other people to gain entry into the two casinos at Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands.
These petty crimes accounted for the majority of the dodgy dealings linked to casinos last year, police said yesterday after releasing statistics on casino crime.
Within the first four days of the opening of the Resorts World Sentosa casino in February last year, eight people were arrested for theft and cheating.
Of these, three were foreigners - one Indonesian and two Mongolians. This incidence of foreigners committing crimes at the casinos here continued throughout the year.
Although more than half of all casino patrons are reportedly Singaporeans and permanent residents, the majority, or 60 per cent, of those arrested for casino crimes were foreigners.
Compared to other places with casinos, the casino-related crime rate here is considered low, at just 0.3 per cent of all crimes committed.
'That is a very good number. Relatively speaking, it is very small,' said Dr Davis Fong, director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau.
In Macau last year, crimes linked to the 33 casinos there made up some 15 per cent of all crime cases reported there.
So far, organised crime that plagues other casino hot spots has also been kept at bay here, said the police.
Their investigations revealed that most of the casino crimes reported last year were opportunistic and low-level.
Experts caution, though, that things could change with more premium gamblers, also known as whales, showing up.
'Major criminal elements tend to closely follow the 'whales',' said Dr Derek da Cunha, author of Singapore Places Its Bets, a book on�the social and economic impact of the entry of casinos here.
'This is because you will then be dealing with astronomical sums of money which organised crime syndicates might find too�lucrative to pass up.'
The more elaborate types of wrongdoing also take a while to detect. Sometimes, it can take one or two years for the surveillance department of a casino to detect cheating, especially in cases where staff conspire with crime syndicates, said Dr Fong.
'You may need to look back at the records for two years to spot a pattern,' he added.
Indeed, crime involving casino staff has already popped up.
In October last year, the court heard its first case of an employee - a pit supervisor - and patron ganging up to cheat Marina Bay Sands of $31,500 by manipulating a Money Wheel game.
In November, Taiwanese Chiu Yee Fong, 30, who worked as a croupier, was charged with taking $111,400 worth of chips from Resorts World Sentosa.
In Macau, it is the casino employees who commonly succumb to the temptation of cheating.
Dr Fong has also seen cases of crime syndicates recruiting down-and-out gamblers who need money to pay off debts.
Counsellors also speak of problem gamblers desperate for money to bet further to recoup losses. 'They can turn to crime,' said Mr Dick Lum, executive director of The Hiding Place.
As a counsellor at the halfway house that provides help to compulsive gamblers, Mr Lum has seen an increase in the number of gamblers who have stolen to support their habit.
[email protected]
