The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested two loan sharks from the Chinese mainland on Sunday for stealing HK$80,000 in chips while collecting HK$320,000 as “interest” from a gambler, PJ spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Leng identified the suspects as a 29-year-old male surnamed Yu and a 40-year-old male surnamed Tao. Both claimed to be jobless.
According to Leng, a male gambler was approached by a man, who was still as large at the time of the press conference, in a casino in Cotai on Saturday. The man introduced the gambler to Yu. The two then met in a hotel guestroom to discuss a deal where they were to pool gaming chips to place bets on the gaming table. The gambler agreed to Yu’s purported “chip-pooling”* deal that they each bet chips worth HK$300,000 in total. The deal’s terms also included 20 percent of the betting money as “interest” on each winning bet. If the gambler’s capital was lost entirely, no repayment would be required.
Leng noted that after settling the terms, Yu took the gambler to meet Tao, who provided HK$300,000 in chips to the victim. By that evening, the gambler had gambled away his own capital and Yu retrieved his HK$300,000. Tao then offered to provide HK$500,000 in chips under the same “chip-pooling” betting conditions. The gambler agreed and continued gambling. Early Sunday morning, the gambler discovered that Tao was repeatedly filching some of their chips from the gaming table while collecting “interest”. An argument ensued, alerting casino security, who intercepted Yu and Tao before reporting the case to the police.
Leng added that Tao had taken a total of HK$320,000 from the gambler as “interest”. Reviewing the casino’s CCTV surveillance footage, the police discovered that Tao had taken the opportunity to remove chips worth HK$80,000 from the table on at least 13 occasions while collecting “interest”. Leng said that Yu was tasked with negotiating the lending terms with the gambler, while Tao handled providing the chips and removing some from the gaming table while betting.
The police seized HK$65,000 in cash and HK$20,000 in chips from Tao, along with the gambler’s remaining HK$890,000 in chips and the “stolen” chips worth HK$80,000.
The duo have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of usury and theft.
* “Chip pooling” refers to a method used in various contexts, particularly in finance and gaming. It usually means consolidating or sharing a group of chips or resources among participants for joint use or as part of a larger strategy. – Poe
This undated handout photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday shows HK$65,000 in cash, HK$100,000 in chips and three smartphones seized from the two usury and theft suspects, along with HK$890,000 in chips confiscated from the “chip-pool” gambler.
