Casino Heist in Macau Nets Thief $6.1M

A casino dealer working in Macau has made off with HKD47.9 million (US$6.1m) of the Wynn Macau’s money, according to a statement released by the resort’s police. The incident took place on Tuesday, with the perpetrator apparently stealing the huge amount of chips from the casino’s VIP club where he has working before exiting the venue.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Judiciary Police spokesperson Eric Choi Ian Fai said that a review of the casino’s video footage indicated that the suspected thief was not armed, or even used any force in order to commit the crime. Mr Choi also said that it was currently uncertain whether the dealer was working alone or as part of a group, or if he was currently still actually in Macau.
Referring to the security aspects of the robbery, Mr Choi said that while there are Judiciary Police officers stationed at casinos across the island, they will only get involved with operations after casino security personnel have alerted them that an incident has occurred. He further stated that he will pass on any recommendations that may help the casino improve its security in the future, explaining:
“During the investigation or after the investigation is finished, if we have found any security-related matters that the casino can improve on, we will communicate with the casino on that.”
In addition, this will assist Macau’s casinos to heed the advice of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), which following the incident has asked casino operators to ensure that their security procedures are strengthened.
While the last casino robberies on such a scale took place in 2015 and 2016 after employees made off with millions of dollars from the properties, gaming-related crime are nevertheless a feature of the industry with 1,323 incidences having been reported over the first nine months of 2017. Furthermore, that figure represents a 1.9 percent increase compared to the same period of time a year earlier.