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Sydney’s The Star Casino has confessed to the New South Wales Supreme Court that it accidentally destroyed cash cheques deposited by Macau player, Wai Chong Wong. Reportedly, the casino admitted to its error after rumours circulated that the two cheques – which had a total value of AU$7 million – had either been destroyed or lost.
The extremely valuable cheques were given to the casino by the high rolling player as security. The Star Casino was given two cheques, the first of which was worth $5 million and the second $2 million, in October of 2016 by Wong. The player reportedly wished to draw chips worth $7 million from the Australian casino.
Wong Fails To Settle Casino Debts
Under the 1992 Casino Control Act, online casinos are prohibited from directly providing credit to players who financially support this credit. However, Aussie casinos are permitted to establish ‘special deposit accounts’ for such players, who are allowed to credit their accounts with cash or cheques in order to draw the equivalent amount in chips from their chosen casinos.
It was this type of deposit account that was established for Wong at Star Casino on October 24, 2016 according to the venue’s records. On the day, the VIP player deposited a $5 million cheque from Hong Kong’s Standard Chartered Bank, with another cheque worth $2 million deposited by the player the next day.
During the New South Wales Supreme Court hearing, it was clear that The Star Casino kept cheques such as these in their patron’s files until their accounts were settled. According to the rules of these settlements, benefactors are meant to withdraw their winnings or provide funds to cover any losses. In the case of Wong’s actions, the entire $7 million deposit was lost by Wong at the casino’s floor.
Former Worker Destroyed Cheques
Under these rules, the patron of the account should provide a personal cheque to cover their losses, and the original cheque will either be returned to them or destroyed. If the player should not be present at the settlement, their original cheque should be kept in a safety deposit box until the punter pays the owed amount to their casino.
At the time of the settlement, Wong had debts of AU$6,139,534.98 at The Star Casino. The punter was not present at settlement – but unfortunately, the casino destroyed both of his original cheques despite him not covering his debts. The court understood that a former employee may have accidentally shredded the cheques, thinking that Wong had already covered his losses with his own funds.
Wong was served two notices in August last year requesting that he provide replacements for the original cheques. However, the player did not respond, and will now be forced to provide The Star Group with new replacement cheques within two weeks under the orders of Justice Monika Schmidt.