The Singapore Police Force have set up a unit called the Casino
Crime Investigation Branch dedicated to combat offences that come
under the Casino Control Act.
The unit comprises 30 officers, of which most have had some sort of
related training overseas or locally.
This follows the announcement of the opening of the two Integrated
Resorts - Resorts World Sentosa as well as Marina Bay Sands
casinos.
At the launch of the new unit, its Head, Superintendent Michael Ang
said the CCIB has been operational since July last
year.
He added that it's too early to tell if there will be sydicated
crimes as there has been no such indication from their current
intelligence.
But, Mr Ang said the team is ready.
"We cannot say people won't try. There'll definitely be people who
commit casino crimes and with that, we have to be ready. When it
happens we can't say "oh, now that it's happened we'll send our
officers for training". We have been planning, learning,
methodically for the past five years to make sure that we are ready
for it because we cannot just say, when it happens, let's deal with
it. We have to be prepared."
So what are some of the common scams in casinos?
Mr Ang elaborates.
"The most common scam is basically people trying to do
past-posting? It's a very simple scam whereby people crowd around a
table where there're a lot of players. And in what you call a "Big
Small" table, you can bet big or small, it's a fifty-fifty kind of
game, and then when the result is known, when the dealer is
basically opening the cover, they quickly place their
bets."
Placing their bets last minute makes it easy for the gamblers to
win.
CCIB is working with relevant authorities from Macau, Hong Kong as
well as Las Vegas.
--938Live
