Malaysian man admits cheating at Marina Bay Sands Resort’s baccarat game

In a Singapore court, a Malaysian man admitted guilt to participating in a fraud ring that defrauded Marina Bay Sands of SGD 433,730 (about USD 315,000). The group appears to have created a top-secret baccarat-beating strategy and employed covert mobile devices to convey card values to accomplices.

The gang that attacked the Sands casino in December 2022 included Tan Kian Yi, a 35-year-old. They sent pictures of the values of playing cards to accomplices using mobile phones. A female participant in the operation known as “the Sorcerer” played 7 Up baccarat while sporting a covert headphone attached to her smartphone. She would then communicate card information to Tan and other “marksmen,” who used an Excel spreadsheet to provide her with betting strategy recommendations.

Despite the fact that the nature of the method was not revealed in court records, the spreadsheet featured a formula that seemed to provide participants a competitive edge.

Two further members of the gang, Chai Hee Keong, 46, of Malaysia and Hung Jung-Hao, 27, of Taiwan, have also been accused in the matter. The status of three further people, Wang Yu, Hung Yu-Wen, and Chou Yu-Lun, who were allegedly involved in the syndicate, is unknown.

Security cameras had already recorded the gang’s suspicious behaviour, which led to Hao’s arrest on December 24, 2022. His colleagues eluded capture in Malaysia before being captured and sent back to Singapore. They left SGD 790,000 in casino chips in their Marina Bay Sands hotel rooms.

Tan told the investigators that he had met Wang and Hung in August 2022 at a casino in the Philippines. Later, Hung claimed to have a strategy to assist them win in baccarat, but Tan said he merely knew that it had been created by “Kelvin.”

No proof of fraud or cheating, according to Tan’s attorneys, rendered it “impossible to determine whether the effect of the formula would have been to change the odds of a game beyond that envisaged by the casino.”

A player in Singapore who is found employing a device to count or record cards while playing in a casino may be sentenced to up to seven years in jail, a fine of up to SGD 150,000, or both under the Casino Control Act.

Original story by: Casino.org