Casino chips theft: Five more suspects detected, 10 nabbed

KUANTAN: Police have tracked down five local men including the mastermind in the RM4.6 million casino chips heist at Genting Highlands on Oct 28, believed to be the largest chips robbery in the highland resort.

They are Lee Kien Keong, 44, of Taman Medan Indah Sungai Lui, Raub who is believed to be among the masterminds; Sam Ting Gai, 42 of Taman Sri Damak, Jerantut; Ho Kian Lim, 46, of Kampung Baru Sempalit, Raub; Ho Kian Yew, 51, of Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bharu and Chung Chee Lui, 39, of Taman Bayu Perdana, Klang, Selangor.

Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said police had already detained 10 suspects including a Chinese national aged between 30 and 59 in raids held at Genting Highlands, Raub, Pahang, Kuala Lumpur and Nilai, Negeri Sembilan between Oct 29 and Nov 1.

Commenting on the incident, Yahaya said the theft of 1,160 chips kept in a special casino room was discovered at 10am on Oct 28 by the casino management and closed-circuit television (cctv) recording showed two men breaking into the room at 7am on the same day after opening the backdoor used as an emergency exit.

"It is learned that the special casino room was not used for two days and one of the suspects who was picked up had worked at the casino and the other suspect who is self-employed is believed to be a casino regular and is familiar with the surrounding of the casino.

"After stealing the chips with denominations between RM500 and RM10,000, some of the suspects cashed out the chips within 48 hours after the incident while some used the money to gamble and some used it to settle their debts," he said in a media conference at Pahang contingent police headquarters here today.

Yahaya said that so far, the police have managed to seize 428 chips worth RM2.997 million, comprising 149 pieces from the suspects and 279 pieces cashed out to casino estimated to be worth more than RM1 million while efforts to trace the remaining 732 chips are underway.

In addition, the police also confiscated RM16,438 in cash from the suspects and a gold chain believed to have been bought using the cash, in addition to finding two Genting Highlands membership cards.

Yahaya said that some of the suspects had a record of drug-related offences and further investigations were carried out under Section 457 of the Penal Code which provides for a prison sentence of up to 14 years, if convicted.

Members of the public who have information related to the case can contact the investigating officer at 09-2222222 or the nearest police station.

-- BERNAMA