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Cao Pi
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Jul 14, 2010
Underage M'sian gambler fined
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
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Tey Chin Wei was fined $3,000 by a district court on Wednesday. His father, a farmer, who came down to attend the hearing, paid the fine. -- ST PHOTO: RAJ NADARAJAN
AN 18-YEAR-OLD Malaysian sneaked into the Marina Bay Sands casino on May 2, lost nearly all of his money and ended up stealing the handbag of a woman at the roulette table. Tey Chin Wei was fined $3,000 by a district court on Wednesday. His father, a farmer, who came down to attend the hearing, paid the fine.
Tey, who works as a hair stylist here, looks younger than his actual age and the court was not told how he managed to enter the casino at 4pm on May 1. Guests must be 21 or older. In the ensuing 10 hours, he gambled away nearly $800. At about 2am, he noticed Madam Tan Hwee Leng, 38, had placed her handbag behind her on the seat of her chair.
She was playing roulette and would stand up to place her bets. She would also slip the chips she won into the handbag. At about 2.15am, she realised her handbag was missing. The bag, worth $5,000, was later found in a men's toilet. Missing from it was $600 in cash, $600 in casino chips and an Apple iPhone valued at $1,200.
Casino staff called the police. In the meantime, casino security officer Tan Tua Boo noticed that Tey looked much too young and checked his age. He then escorted the Malaysian out of the casino after recording his particulars.
Later, Mr Tan realised that Tey could be the thief when he saw footage of the closed circuit television cameras for the roulette section. The security officer handed the suspect's name and address to the police and the Malaysian was picked up the same day.
