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Jun 21, 2011
Fighting conviction for taking wallet in casino
By Khushwant Singh
A Malaysian logistics executive insists he left a wallet he found in the Marina Bay Sands casino intact in the toilet in June 2010. -- ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
A MALAYSIAN logistics executive insists he left a wallet he found in the Marina Bay Sands casino intact in the toilet in June 2010.
However, Wong Seng Kwan, 41, was convicted and fined $2,000 in December 2010 for dishonestly misappropriating the wallet belonging to Chinese national Sun Yan Li, and taking the $150 in it. He is appealing against the conviction.
In the grounds of decision issued on Tuesday, District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam said that she found Wong's account 'incredulous, fraught with internal inconsistencies and tailored to absolve him of all criminal liability'.
He claimed he stepped on the wallet and picking it up was the natural thing to do.
He was also in a hurry to go to the toilet. Anyway, it had no identification papers so he left the wallet behind in a toilet cubicle without taking anything from it.
Ms Sun, who is in her late 30s, testified that at 1am on June 10, 2010, she was seated at the baccarat table. Her wallet, with the cash, identification documents and a credit card, had been placed at the side of her seat.
When it went missing, she informed the casino staff. A check of the surveillance video showed Wong had picked it up. The wallet was never found.
He said that he did not hand the wallet to security staff because of a previous unpleasant experience in Hong Kong. He had found a pouch at the airport there but was scolded by police for picking it up.
The judge observed that as such, picking up the wallet would certainly not be the natural thing for him to do.
