Two men jailed for conspiring to scam MBS casino
By Claire Huang
POSTED: 25 Jun 2013 3:23 PM
Singapore Subordinate Courts (Photo: Anthony Chia, channelnewsasia.com)
SINGAPORE: Two men have been sentenced to between 10 and 24 months' jail for their conspiracy to scam Marina Bay Sands casino of almost S$92,000.
Forty-six-year-old Soh Hai Hon was given a two-year jail term for six counts of conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust in October and November last year.
Another 11 similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing purposes.
Joining Soh was 48-year-old Tock Lian Huat who was sentenced to 10 months' jail for similar offences.
The prosecution proceeded on two of four charges.
Soh and Tock were part of a group of six men who conspired to cheat the MBS casino.
Court documents stated that Soh was introduced to 23-year-old Chan Chee Tuck in October 2012.
Chan was a dealer at the casino. The pair hatched a scam to cheat the casino by getting the other four co-accused to gamble at Chan's station.
They would shift the losing bet to a winning one, and with Chan's help, the co-accused would claim the winning payout.
In sentencing, District Judge Lim Tse Haw noted that Tock was previously convicted of cheating offences but he agreed with the defence that Chan's culpability was higher and sentenced Tock to 10 months' jail.
As for Soh, the judge ruled that his culpability was not lower than that of Chan's.
Chan was sentenced to 24 months' jail late last year.
Judge Lim said while Chan was a dealer at MBS casino and committed offences against his employer, he pointed out that Soh played an active role as a co-conspirator.
The judge said Soh also had a larger share of the proceeds of the scam.
Soh and Tock are the last of the group to be dealt with.
The court heard that one co-accused, Koh Boon Yeap, 46, had died.
The other three were handed jail terms.
- CNA/fa