The case of card recording at a casino is believed to be the first of its kind in courts here.
A Malaysian man linked to a foreign syndicate that unlawfully recorded cards during baccarat games at the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino was sentenced to a year and 10 months’ jail on March 18.
Chai Hee Keong, 46, pleaded guilty to four charges under the Casino Control Act. He was the third person to be convicted in Singapore in the case, which saw the syndicate winning a total of $433,730 at the tables from Dec 16 to 23, 2022.
Another Malaysian, Tan Kian Yi, 35, was sentenced to three years and four months’ jail in November 2023. Taiwanese Hung Jung-Hao, 28, was convicted the following month and was ordered to spend a year and 10 months behind bars.
All three men have not made restitution.
The case of card recording at a casino is believed to be the first of its kind in courts here.
Three other Taiwanese are said to also be involved in the syndicate. They are: Wang Yu, 22; his girlfriend Hung Yu-Wen, 24; and Hung Jung-Hao’s girlfriend Chou Yu-Lun, 26.
Court documents did not disclose the outcome of their cases.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Zhi Jie said Tan and Chai had known each other in 2019 before becoming close friends.
In August 2022, Tan met Hung Yu-Wen for the first time when he visited a casino in the Philippines.
When they met again in the Philippines in November 2022, Hung told Tan she had a “formula” that could help them win in baccarat.
The DPP told the court that the formula was developed by a man known only as Kelvin.
Tan agreed to join Hung and Wang in using the formula, which required the use of an Excel sheet, to win at baccarat.
Hung taught Tan how to use the formula and asked him to memorise a set of codes, which referred to the values and suits of the cards in baccarat games.
She also told Tan he would be keying the codes into the Excel sheet after someone transmitted information to him.
The formula would then generate an output that predicted the game’s next outcome. Court documents did not state how the formula worked.
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