PAGCOR uncovers scheme defrauding casinos

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) has filed a criminal complaint against members of an international syndicate caught using sophisticated communication devices to cheat in card games in its casinos.

PAGCOR assistant vice president for corporate communications Maricar Bautista said three foreigners -Chinese and Malaysian nationals -were apprehended last week and charged before the Parañaque City Prosecutors’ Office.

She said the state gaming firm lost millions because of the group’s modus operandi.

“The existence of illegal gambling activities being perpetrated by syndicates in casinos worldwide has been widely talked about for years. Millions (of pesos) have already been lost because of such undetected activities,” she said.

“PAGCOR will share information with other casinos on how we busted the group’s operations. We have to work together in going after the perpetrators of such crimes,” she added.

Bautista said the suspects were placed under surveillance during the past few weeks after PAGCOR received information from a tipster that the group was swindling the casinos of millions by cheating in card games through the use of improvised devices.

“They were caught red-handed through the CCTV cameras strategically located in PAGCOR’s Airport Casino Filipino branch in Parañaque City,” she said.

The incident happened on the evening of May 8 until 1:30 a.m. the following day while the group was playing baccarat.

“Found concealed under the wrist of one suspect is an electronic device with a camera, with power supply, and a memory card containing recorded footage of card anomalies committed by the group,” Bautista said.

She said the suspects admitted to cheating the casino through the use of the gadget.

“Apparently, the gadget has a small trigger which, when pushed, turned on the camera and records the sequence of cards every time he would cut the new set of cards on the gaming table,” Bautista said.

Meanwhile, she said 11 customers at the Casino Filipino Pavilion were arrested after its security personnel caught them using an improvised gadget that rigged the dispensing of tokens in slot machines. All suspects are currently detained in jail.