Eight individuals detained in Macau for orchestrating a casino fraud involving manipulated playing cards
In a recent development, eight residents of Macau have been detained on suspicion of conspiring to defraud a casino by tampering with poker cards. According to the Judiciary Police spokesperson Lei Chi Hou, the suspects are believed to be part of a criminal organization and face charges of large-scale fraud.
The card manipulation enabled accomplices to anticipate the sequence of dealt cards, allowing them to place winning bets. The casinos targeted in the summer case were located in Cotai, and the alleged scheme caused the casino to suffer an estimated loss of HKD 4.54 million.
Five of the suspects from the summer case were identified as casino employees - table managers, directors, and dealers. Each involved employee received illicit payments ranging from HKD 170,000 to HKD 500,000. The remaining three suspects are alleged to be key members responsible for orchestrating the scheme.
The other three suspects, aged between 33 and 42, are yet to be identified. No further details about the search for additional suspects in the summer case were provided.
The Judiciary Police made a statement regarding the summer case, emphasizing the need for casinos to stay alert to insider collusion and advanced cheating tactics. The authorities also highlighted that both cases caused significant financial and reputational damage to the gaming industry.
Despite the rare occurrence of such incidents, Macau casinos employ stringent security measures to maintain the integrity of the games. These include high-tech surveillance systems, stringent dealer training and oversight, random card shuffling machines, security personnel and plainclothes inspectors on the floor, and strict regulatory frameworks enforced by the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).
Any detected fraud cases typically result in severe penalties and criminal prosecution to deter cheating. However, official Macau gaming regulatory reports or casino operator disclosures are often limited due to confidentiality and security concerns, making it difficult to ascertain the frequency of poker card tampering and fraud schemes in Macau casinos.
Nonetheless, it is well-known that such fraudulent activities are taken very seriously in Macau, given its position as a major global gambling hub. The Judiciary Police's recent statement serves as a reminder of the vigilance required to maintain the trust and integrity of the gaming industry in Macau.
