A court in Singapore has framed charges against five Indians for allegedly using fake casino
chips at a resort in the city state, local media reported on Saturday.
The Indians are accused of using an unknown number of counterfeit chips valued at SGD 1,000 each by exchanging them into smaller denominations of the genuine chips at Marina Bay
Sands casino on last Thursday.
Maqsud Ibrahim, Gurav Vishal Sopan, Shettiyar
Kunabalan, Soheel Ahmad Jalih Ahmad and Asfaq Usman were arrested from the Changi Airport here on Friday and remanded to police custody. The court has fixed January 7 as the next date for hearing.
If convicted, each of them face a jail term of up to seven years and/or a fine of up to SGD150,000.
The five Indians were given the fake chips in Mumbai to try out at the Singapore casino, according to a report by The Straits Times.
This is the first case of its kind since the
casino-based Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands opened for business in February and April 2010, respectively.
Meanwhile, MBS said in a statement that its chips have anti-counterfeiting features such as holograms and ultraviolet fluorescence, and radio-frequency identification inserts to track the chips.
Casino chips are of high quality and difficult to replicate, said Tony Compton, who lectures on casino management at Boston Business School.
"Each casino chooses its own unique style and design.
For example, the chips used at MBS have a specific logo that is very hard for forgers to make. Casino staff are also trained to spot counterfeit chips," Compton was quoted as
saying.