Indian-origin man sentenced to 5 weeks in jail for stealing chips at Singapore casino

The court heard that Chinnasamy, who is a construction worker, went to the Marina Bay Sands Casino at Bayfront Avenue on four days in July this year.

Singapore: An Indian-origin man was sentenced to five weeks in jail on Friday for stealing cash chips from other punters on 34 occasions at a casino in Singapore. Chinnasamy Muniraj, 26, pleaded guilty to one count each of stealing and fraudulently obtaining cash chips worth Singapore dollars 175 (USD 126) as winnings for himself when the winning bet belonged to another gambler, reported Channel News Asia. The court heard that Chinnasamy, who is a construction worker, went to the Marina Bay Sands Casino at Bayfront Avenue on four days in July this year.

On each of these days, he stole cash chips from other patrons after using up all of his own cash chips. He would either do this by simply removing the chips or shifting the players' chips to other bets in the games he was playing. Between Jul 10 and Jul 14 this year, Chinnasamy stole cash chips worth Singapore dollars 845 on 34 occasions. At about 1 am on Jul 10, he was at the casino playing a game of "Sic-Bo". He then lied to the dealer that a winning bet of the game belonged to him.

He successfully obtained cash chips with a total value of Singapore dollars 175 as winnings for himself as a result. The winning bet had actually been made by another gambler. Chinnasamy, whose nationality was not stated in the report, was arrested on Jul 14 this year. That same day, he had attempted to claim Singapore dollars 50 worth of cash chips as winnings in another "Sic-Bo" game. In his first statement to the police, Chinnasamy claimed that he took cash chips from other patrons on only two occasions.

However, when the police confronted him with closed-circuit television footage, he admitted to his crimes. He has not made any restitution. For theft, he could have been jailed up to three years, fined, or both. For fraudulently obtaining cash chips for himself in a casino game under the Casino Control Act, he could have been jailed up to seven years, fined up to Singapore dollars 150,000 (USD 108,000) or both. (PTI)

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